Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 302

May 26, 200413 counties in Oklahoma

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 26, 2004, 6:25 PM CDT for 13 counties in Oklahoma. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 26, 2004, 6:25 PM CDT (23:25 UTC)
Expired: May 26, 2004, 11:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Cleveland County, OK, Creek County, OK, Grady County, OK, Lincoln County, OK, Logan County, OK, McClain County, OK, Nowata County, OK, Oklahoma County, OK, Osage County, OK, Pawnee County, OK, Payne County, OK, Pottawatomie County, OK, Washington County, OK

The radar

The Norman radar (KTLX), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:25 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.

Warnings issued inside it

7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 26, 7:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Canadian, Oklahoma	36 min
May 26, 7:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Pawnee	60 min
May 26, 7:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage	80 min
May 26, 8:07 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Osage	53 min
May 26, 8:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Pawnee	61 min
May 26, 8:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Osage	53 min
May 26, 9:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Washington	51 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 52 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: 777 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -326 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1364 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 292 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 238 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 262324
SEL2  
SPC WW 262325
OKZ000-270400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 302
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
625 PM CDT WED MAY 26 2004

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       CENTRAL AND NORTHERN OKLAHOMA

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY EVENING FROM 625 PM UNTIL 1100 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 40 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF BARTLESVILLE OKLAHOMA
TO 45 MILES SOUTH OF OKLAHOMA CITY OKLAHOMA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 294...WW 296...WW 297...WW
298...WW 299...WW 300...WW 301...

DISCUSSION...ISOLATED SUPERCELL STORMS OVER WEST-CENTRAL OK MAY
PERSIST FOR SEVERAL HOURS THIS EVENING AND TRACK INTO
CENTRAL/NORTHERN OK.  VERY MOIST/UNSTABLE AIRMASS AND FAVORABLE
VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILES WILL PROMOTE POTENTIAL FOR VERY LARGE HAIL
AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27035.


...HART

365,0952 344,0965 344,0981 365,0965

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 25, 7:07 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Carter, Comanche, Cotton, Garvin, Jefferson, Johnston and 5 more	113 min
May 25, 11:28 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Harmon, Jackson	2 hr
May 26, 12:12 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Beckham, Custer, Dewey, Greer, Harmon, Jackson and 3 more	3 hr
May 26, 3:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Greer, Harmon, Jackson	6 hr
May 26, 3:55 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Comanche and 16 more	6 hr
May 26, 5:37 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Comanche and 15 more	83 min
May 26, 6:07 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Greer, Harmon, Jackson	83 min
May 26, 6:37 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Comanche and 24 more	83 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2004 Every tornado watch in 2004

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.