Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Watches in 2012

Tornado Watch 164

April 14, 2012Chautauqua County, Labette County, Montgomery County, Kansas; 17 counties in Oklahoma

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 14, 2012, 3:42 AM CDT for Chautauqua County, Labette County, Montgomery County, Kansas; 17 counties in Oklahoma. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 14, 2012, 3:42 AM CDT (08:42 UTC)
Expired
Apr 14, 2012, 9:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Chautauqua County, KS, Labette County, KS, Montgomery County, KS, Craig County, OK, Creek County, OK, Delaware County, OK, Kay County, OK, Lincoln County, OK, Logan County, OK, Mayes County, OK, Noble County, OK, Nowata County, OK, Osage County, OK, Ottawa County, OK, Pawnee County, OK, Payne County, OK, Rogers County, OK, Tulsa County, OK, Wagoner County, OK, Washington County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:42 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
20%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 14, 4:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSANowata, Osage, Rogers, Washington52 min
Apr 14, 4:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNPayne63 min
Apr 14, 4:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek47 min
Apr 14, 4:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNGarfield, Noble61 min
Apr 14, 6:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACraig, Mayes, Nowata, Rogers, Tulsa, Washington43 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 00:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 181 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, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2012-04-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2227 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2012-04-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 269 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2227 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
617 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
269 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
389 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.5
Supercell composite
15.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

288 
WWUS20 KWNS 140839
SEL4
SPC WW 140839
KSZ000-OKZ000-141400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 164
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
340 AM CDT SAT APR 14 2012

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

       EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS
       NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY MORNING FROM 340 AM UNTIL 900 AM 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 APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 40 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PONCA
CITY OKLAHOMA TO 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF GROVE OKLAHOMA.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU4).

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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 163. WATCH NUMBER 163 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER
340 AM CDT.

DISCUSSION...CLUSTER OF STORMS WITH EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS WILL LIKELY
PERSIST THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS IN CONJUNCTION WITH
LOW-LEVEL WAA AND A FEED OF MOISTURE AND MODERATE INSTABILITY FROM
THE S/SW.  STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR AND INSTABILITY ROOTED AT OR VERY
NEAR THE SURFACE WILL SUPPORT THE RISK FOR A COUPLE OF
TORNADOES...AS WELL AS LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED DAMAGING WINDS.

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 25025.


...THOMPSON

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 13, 9:14 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua and 17 more61 min
Apr 14, 7:11 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCherokee, Labette64 min
Apr 14, 9:42 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Finney, Ford, Gove, Grant, Gray and 10 more93 min
Apr 14, 10:43 AM CDTTornado Watch PDSSPCBarber, Barton, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Comanche and 42 more7 hr
Apr 14, 11:44 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Barton, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Comanche and 40 more61 min
Apr 14, 12:11 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCButler, Chase, Chautauqua, Coffey, Cowley, Dickinson and 19 more64 min
Apr 14, 1:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDecatur, Rawlins2 hr
Apr 14, 1:44 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarton, Clark, Cloud, Edwards, Ellis, Ellsworth and 20 more61 min
Apr 14, 2:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Ottawa and 2 more32 min
Apr 14, 3:01 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Barton, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ellsworth and 10 more29 min
Apr 14, 3:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Barton, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Comanche and 33 more57 min
Apr 14, 4:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Brown, Doniphan, Nemaha58 min
Apr 14, 4:54 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Barton, Clay, Cloud, Comanche, Dickinson and 32 more66 min
Apr 14, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCDoniphan7 hr
Apr 14, 5:24 PM CDTTornado Watch PDSSPCBarber, Barton, Brown, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua and 57 more9 hr
Apr 13, 7:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Comanche and 24 more55 min
Apr 13, 8:36 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland and 31 more7 hr
Apr 13, 9:58 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Comanche and 19 more92 min
Apr 13, 11:45 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Comanche and 20 more90 min
Apr 14, 2:40 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland and 31 more65 min
Apr 14, 1:23 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaver, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Carter and 21 more2 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.