Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 31, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 4, 2003Craig County, Ottawa County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 4, 2003, 5:38 PM CDT for Craig County, Ottawa County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 37 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 4, 2003, 5:38 PM CDT (22:38 UTC)
Expired: May 4, 2003, 6:15 PM CDT
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Craig County, OK, Ottawa County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:41 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 4, 12:35 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 104 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 50 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -362 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 735 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 282 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 474 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WFUS54 KTSA 042238
TORTUL
OKC035-115-042315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
537 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN CRAIG COUNTY IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
  OTTAWA COUNTY IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 615 PM CDT

* AT 537 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 11
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF BLUEJACKET...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. STORM   
  SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND AY 530 PM 7 MILES WEST 
  NORTHWEST OF VINITA.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...MIAMI...
  COMMERCE...FAIRLAND...NARCISSA...WYANDOTTE...QUAPAW...BLUEJACKET
  AND WELCH.

A TORNADO HAS BEEN CONFIRMED IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS
TORNADO...TAKE COVER NOW IF NO UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS AVAILABLE MOVE
TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES
SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS

LAT...LON 3680 9529 3670 9525 3675 9462 3699 9462
          3701 9472

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 4, 3:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Washington	67 min
May 4, 4:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	McIntosh	66 min
May 4, 4:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Pittsburg	64 min
May 4, 4:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Washington	53 min
May 4, 4:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Okfuskee, Okmulgee	51 min
May 4, 4:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Nowata, Washington	48 min
May 4, 4:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Pittsburg	38 min
May 4, 4:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Craig, Nowata	47 min
May 4, 4:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Muskogee, Wagoner	45 min
May 4, 4:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Nowata	37 min
May 4, 5:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Pittsburg	57 min
May 4, 5:09 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Craig	36 min
May 4, 5:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Cherokee, Mayes	47 min
May 4, 5:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Delaware	50 min
May 4, 5:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Latimer	65 min
May 4, 5:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	LeFlore	63 min
May 4, 6:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Ottawa	42 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.