Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Watches in 2012
Tornado Watch 151
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 9, 2012, 2:28 PM CDT for Barber County, Clark County, Comanche County, Kansas; 8 counties in Oklahoma. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 9, 2012, 2:28 PM CDT (19:28 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 9, 2012, 7:50 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Barber County, KS, Clark County, KS, Comanche County, KS, Alfalfa County, OK, Blaine County, OK, Dewey County, OK, Ellis County, OK, Harper County, OK, Major County, OK, Woods County, OK, Woodward County, OK
The radar
The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:29 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
- 70%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 50%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
10 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 9, 3:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Harper, Woods | 51 min |
| Apr 9, 4:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Harper, Woods, Woodward | 65 min |
| Apr 9, 4:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Woodward | 60 min |
| Apr 9, 5:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Major, Woods, Woodward | 60 min |
| Apr 9, 5:25 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OUN | Woodward | 35 min |
| Apr 9, 5:50 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OUN | Dewey, Woodward | 40 min |
| Apr 9, 6:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Woodward | 45 min |
| Apr 9, 6:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Dewey, Ellis, Major, Roger Mills, Woodward | 64 min |
| Apr 9, 6:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OUN | Dewey, Woodward | 31 min |
| Apr 9, 7:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Custer, Dewey, Roger Mills | 63 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
Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 125 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1086 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 15 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 64 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
701
WWUS20 KWNS 091929
SEL1
SPC WW 091929
KSZ000-OKZ000-100200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 151
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
230 PM CDT MON APR 9 2012
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS
NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA
EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 230 PM UNTIL 900
PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2.5 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 EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF
MEDICINE LODGE KANSAS TO 55 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GAGE OKLAHOMA.
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).
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.
DISCUSSION...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO FORM IN THE NEXT
1-2 HOURS OVER EXTREME SOUTHERN KS AND NORTHWEST OK...NEAR WEAK
SURFACE BOUNDARY. MODERATE INSTABILITY AND BACKED LOW LEVEL WINDS
IN VICINITY OF BOUNDARY WILL PROMOTE SUPERCELL STRUCTURES CAPABLE OF
VERY LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND A FEW TORNADOES. THREAT
SHOULD PERSIST FOR A FEW HOURS BEFORE CONVECTIVE MODE TRANSITIONS
INTO MORE OF A HAIL/WIND THREAT.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 30025.
...HARTSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 9, 1:54 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barber, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ford, Gray and 4 more | 96 min |
| Apr 9, 3:06 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beckham, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Kiowa, Roger Mills and 1 more | 54 min |
| Apr 9, 3:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Beckham, Caddo, Comanche, Custer, Greer, Harmon and 5 more | 8 hr |
| Apr 9, 5:37 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beckham, Custer, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Kiowa and 2 more | 83 min |
| Apr 9, 6:27 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Custer and 11 more | 8 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2012Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2012Every tornado watch in 2012
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.