Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Watches in 2015

Tornado Watch 208

May 24, 20155 counties in Oklahoma; Hansford County, Lipscomb County, Ochiltree County, Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 24, 2015, 8:24 PM CDT for 5 counties in Oklahoma; Hansford County, Lipscomb County, Ochiltree County, Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 24, 2015, 8:24 PM CDT (01:24 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 2015, 1:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Beaver County, OK, Ellis County, OK, Harper County, OK, Texas County, OK, Woodward County, OK, Hansford County, TX, Lipscomb County, TX, Ochiltree County, TX

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 139 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:28 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
30%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
20%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
5%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

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 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 143 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2015-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 819 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2015-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 93 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
819 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
638 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
93 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

813 
WWUS20 KWNS 250120
SEL8  
SPC WW 250120
OKZ000-TXZ000-250600-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 208
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
825 PM CDT SUN MAY 24 2015

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE AND NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA
  THE NORTHEAST TEXAS PANHANDLE

* EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING FROM 825 PM
  UNTIL 100 AM CDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE

SUMMARY...WIDELY SCATTERED SUPERCELLS WITH A RISK FOR HAIL AND A
COUPLE TORNADOES WILL AFFECT WATCH AREA THROUGH EARLY MONDAY.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES NORTHWEST OF GAGE
OKLAHOMA TO 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GAGE OKLAHOMA.  FOR A COMPLETE
DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU8).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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 205...WW 206...WW 207...

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22025.


...CORFIDI

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 7:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaver, Ellis, Texas93 min
May 25, 10:13 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Coal, Comanche and 10 more2 hr
May 25, 10:54 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAtoka, Bryan, Caddo, Canadian, Carter, Cleveland and 21 more7 hr
May 25, 12:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Creek and 26 more83 min
May 25, 1:54 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarter, Cleveland, Cotton, Garvin, Grady, Jefferson and 8 more2 hr
May 25, 2:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtoka, Bryan, Choctaw, Coal, Latimer, LeFlore and 2 more55 min
May 25, 2:52 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdair, Cherokee, Choctaw, Delaware, Haskell, Latimer and 7 more8 hr
May 25, 5:15 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Haskell, LeFlore, McCurtain, Sequoyah90 min
May 25, 3:17 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBandera, Coke, Crane, Crockett, Ector, Edwards and 21 more4 hr
May 25, 6:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAndrews, Borden, Brown, Callahan, Coke, Coleman and 34 more6 hr
May 25, 6:50 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAndrews, Borden, Callahan, Coke, Coleman, Crosby and 26 more55 min
May 25, 7:53 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBandera, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Comal, Frio and 8 more2 hr
May 25, 9:02 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAtascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet and 27 more7 hr
May 25, 11:37 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet and 26 more113 min
May 25, 2:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAustin, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Brazos, Burleson and 26 more95 min
May 25, 3:19 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Dimmit, Edwards, Frio and 9 more56 min
May 25, 5:51 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCSabine6 hr
May 25, 6:06 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAustin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston and 14 more54 min
May 25, 6:24 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAustin, Bee, Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado and 18 more9 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2015Tornado Watches in Texas, 2015Every tornado watch in 2015

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.