Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 347

May 24, 200817 counties in Oklahoma

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 24, 2008, 1:03 PM CDT for 17 counties in Oklahoma. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 24, 2008, 1:03 PM CDT (18:03 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 2008, 6:56 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
3 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Alfalfa County, OK, Blaine County, OK, Canadian County, OK, Creek County, OK, Garfield County, OK, Grant County, OK, Kay County, OK, Kingfisher County, OK, Lincoln County, OK, Logan County, OK, Major County, OK, Noble County, OK, Okfuskee County, OK, Oklahoma County, OK, Osage County, OK, Pawnee County, OK, Payne County, OK

The radar

The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:04 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
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
50%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 1:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGarfield51 min
May 24, 2:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGarfield, Kingfisher39 min
May 24, 2:26 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNGarfield, Kingfisher34 min
May 24, 2:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGarfield, Grant48 min
May 24, 2:47 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNGarfield, Kingfisher43 min
May 24, 2:55 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNGarfield35 min
May 24, 3:29 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNGarfield46 min
May 24, 4:13 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNGarfield62 min
May 24, 4:22 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNGarfield53 min
May 24, 5:14 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNGarfield, Logan, Noble31 min
May 24, 5:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGarfield27 min
May 24, 5:51 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNNoble, Payne54 min
May 24, 6:39 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNNoble51 min
May 24, 6:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGarfield49 min
May 24, 6:49 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNNoble41 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

Lamont, OK (KLMN), launched 12:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 27 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, Lamont, OK at 12:00Z on 2008-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1787 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lamont, OK at 12:00Z on 2008-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 225 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 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
1787 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-91 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
587 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
225 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
270 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
10.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000
WWUS20 KWNS 241801
SEL7  
SPC WW 241801
OKZ000-250000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 347
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
105 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 2008

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

       PARTS OF NORTHERN OKLAHOMA

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 105 PM UNTIL
700 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 50 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF
ENID OKLAHOMA TO 50 MILES NORTHEAST OF CHANDLER OKLAHOMA.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).

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 346...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO INCREASE RAPIDLY ALONG
INTERSECTION OF E/W OUTFLOW BOUNDARY AND N/S DRY LINE.  WITH A VERY
TO EXTREMELY UNSTABLE WARM SECTOR...MLCAPES TO 4000 J/KG...AND
ENHANCED LOW LEVEL SHEAR VICINITY BOUNDARIES...SUPERCELLS ARE LIKELY
INCLUDING LARGE HAIL AND POSSIBLE TORNADOES.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
600. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25020.


...HALES

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 8:17 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Beaver, Beckham, Blaine, Custer, Dewey and 20 more58 min
May 23, 10:33 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Custer, Dewey, Ellis and 10 more57 min
May 23, 11:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Custer, Dewey, Ellis and 15 more54 min
May 24, 12:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGarfield, Kingfisher, Logan, Noble, Payne64 min
May 24, 2:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Creek and 15 more87 min
May 24, 6:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Blaine, Canadian, Creek, Custer, Dewey and 16 more26 min
May 24, 6:53 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlfalfa, Blaine, Canadian, Creek, Custer, Dewey and 17 more5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2008Every tornado watch in 2008

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.