Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Watches in 2006

Tornado Watch 278

May 2, 200614 counties in Oklahoma; Archer County, Clay County, Wichita County, Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 2, 2006, 5:42 PM CDT for 14 counties in Oklahoma; Archer County, Clay County, Wichita County, Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 2006, 5:42 PM CDT (22:42 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 2006, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
3 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Alfalfa County, OK, Blaine County, OK, Caddo County, OK, Comanche County, OK, Cotton County, OK, Custer County, OK, Dewey County, OK, Harper County, OK, Kiowa County, OK, Major County, OK, Tillman County, OK, Washita County, OK, Woods County, OK, Woodward County, OK, Archer County, TX, Clay County, TX, Wichita County, TX

The radar

The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 130 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
40%
Ten or more severe hail reports
80%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
50%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
90%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 6:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCuster58 min
May 2, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBeckham, Washita60 min
May 2, 6:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNHarper, Woods64 min
May 2, 7:31 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNJackson, Tillman44 min
May 2, 7:31 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNJackson, Tillman44 min
May 2, 7:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNKiowa39 min
May 2, 7:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCaddo41 min
May 2, 7:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNWoods61 min
May 2, 8:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNComanche, Cotton, Tillman57 min
May 2, 9:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNCotton44 min
May 2, 9:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNAlfalfa, Woods33 min
May 2, 9:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNArcher40 min
May 2, 10:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNArcher44 min
May 2, 10:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNClay43 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

Fort Sill, OK (KFSI), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 112 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Sill, OK at 12:00Z on 2006-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 186 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Fort Sill, OK at 12:00Z on 2006-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 130 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 kmRMLM
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
186 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-368 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1076 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
130 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
153 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 7:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarter, Cotton, Jefferson, Johnston, Love, Marshall and 3 more84 min
May 2, 12:50 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Carter, Cherokee, Cleveland, Coal, Creek and 21 more115 min
May 2, 1:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Atoka, Carter, Cherokee, Cleveland, Coal and 28 more9 hr
May 2, 1:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBryan, Cotton, Jefferson, Stephens8 hr
May 2, 3:52 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Cherokee, Choctaw and 32 more113 min
May 2, 7:38 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Coal, Cotton and 13 more97 min
May 2, 1:45 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Coal, Garvin and 10 more90 min
May 2, 2:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaver, Beckham, Custer, Dewey, Ellis, Greer and 6 more23 min
May 2, 2:39 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBeckham, Ellis, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Roger Mills8 hr
May 2, 5:26 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeckham, Blaine, Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Custer and 10 more94 min
May 2, 6:30 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaver, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Carter, Comanche and 16 more90 min
May 2, 3:17 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAustin, Bastrop, Blanco, Brazos, Burleson, Burnet and 25 more118 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2006Tornado Watches in Texas, 2006Every tornado watch in 2006

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.