Oklahoma, 2002

Flash Flood and Hail in Oklahoma, August 23, 2002

August 23, 2002 · NWS TSA · 18 events in 6 counties and zones

13 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
1
Property damage
$3.8 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
18

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 23, 2:00 PM CST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 23, 2:00 PM CST, 2 hours before
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OKLAHOMA
300 PM CDT FRI AUG 23 2002

HAVE SEEN SOME SCATTERED CONVECTION DEVELOP MAINLY OVER EASTERN
SECTIONS OF THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON.  THIS ACTIVITY IS GENERALLY
DIURNALLY DRIVEN...SO SHOULD QUICKLY DIMINISH BY EARLY EVENING.
FOCUS WILL THEN BE NORTHWEST OF THE AREA ONCE AGAIN AS A COMPLEX OF
STORMS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATER TONIGHT.  BELIEVE THIS ACTIVITY
WILL DEVELOP FAR ENOUGH TO THE NORTHWEST...AND HAVE MORE OF AN
EASTERLY MOVEMENT DURING THE NIGHT THUS REMAINING GENERALLY TO OUR
NORTH AT LEAST THROUGH 12Z.  HOWEVER...AM RELUCTANT TO REMOVE POPS
FOR LATER TONIGHT AT THIS POINT...SO SLIGHT CHANCES WILL BE LEFT IN
PLACE.

BELIEVE BEST CHANCE FOR PRECIP OVER THE AREA WILL BE SATURDAY AND
ESPECIALLY SATURDAY NIGHT AS FLOW ALOFT TURNS MORE NORTHWESTERLY.
HIGHEST POPS WILL BE ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA INTO NORTHWEST
ARKANSAS BY LATER TOMORROW AFTERNOON INTO TOMORROW NIGHT...THEN
TAPERING DOWNWARD OVER SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA TOWARD THE RED RIVER.
WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS OVER THE AREA SUNDAY...AND SLIGHT CHANCE
SUNDAY NIGHT.

FOR THE EXTENDED PART OF THE FORECAST WILL KEEP MONDAY AND TUESDAY
DRY...THEN HAVE ADDED A MENTION OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR
WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY.

TUL  77  93  71  92 /  20  40  50  30
FSM  73  96  73  92 /  20  30  50  30
MLC  73  96  73  93 /  20  30  40  30
BVO  73  90  69  91 /  20  40  50  30
FYV  68  91  68  90 /  20  30  50  30
BYV  69  90  67  87 /  20  30  50  30
MIO  70  89  66  90 /  20  30  50  30
MKO  73  94  71  92 /  20  30  50  30
F10  73  94  72  93 /  20  30  40  30
HHW  74  98  75  94 /  20  20  30  30

FORECAST ID= 4
.TSA...
AR...NONE.
OK...NONE.

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

13 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Ottawa

When
August 23, 4:00 PM CST
Where
Ottawa County, Quapaw
Measured
61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
36.950, -94.783

Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down a few trees.

Thunderstorm Wind, Ottawa

When
August 23, 4:10 PM CST
Where
Ottawa County, 2 mi NE of Miami
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
36.900, -94.850

Thunderstorm Wind, Ottawa

When
August 23, 5:00 PM CST
Where
Ottawa County, Picher
Measured
61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.983, -94.833

Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down a few trees.

Flash Flood, Ottawa

When
August 23, 6:00 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where
Ottawa County, Picher
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.836, -94.810 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm rains estimated at between 2 and 4 inches by radar caused water to flow over Highway 69 near Picher.

Hail, Washington

When
August 23, 6:00 PM CST
Where
Washington County, 8 mi N of Copan
Measured
1.25 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
37.017, -95.933

Hail, Nowata

When
August 23, 6:15 PM CST
Where
Nowata County, Wann
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.917, -95.800

Thunderstorm Wind, Nowata

When
August 23, 6:30 PM CST to 6:50 PM CST
Where
Nowata County, 3 mi SE of Delaware
Measured
64 kt (74 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
36.750, -95.600

Thunderstorm Wind, Nowata

When
August 23, 6:50 PM CST
Where
Nowata County, Nowata
Measured
70 kt (81 mph)
Property damage
$3.5 million
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
36.700, -95.633

Thunderstorm winds measured at 74 miles an hour at a nearby mesonet site and estimated at 80 miles an hour at Nowata did widespread damage in and around Nowata. Several hundred trees and power poles were damaged or blown down. The trees fell on several houses causing roof damage. Several cars were also damaged. The downed power poles caused widespread power outages that lasted up to 12 hours.

Thunderstorm Wind, Rogers

When
August 23, 6:57 PM CST
Where
Rogers County, Foyil
Measured
57 kt (66 mph)
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
36.433, -95.517

Law enforcement reported 65 mile an hour winds at Foyil. This wind caused damage to trees and power poles. The winds also blew down a metal shed at the football stadium. The falling shed injured a four year old girl who was at the location to watch a scrimmage. The girl was transported to the nearest hospital to be treated.

Thunderstorm Wind, Washington

When
August 23, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Washington County, 5 mi N of Dewey
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.867, -95.933

Thunderstorm Wind, Rogers

When
August 23, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Rogers County, Oologah
Measured
70 kt (81 mph)
Property damage
$250,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
36.450, -95.700

Thunderstorm winds estimated at 80 miles an hour caused severe damage to trees, power poles and structures in and around Oologah. Some of the power poles blown down were on the northern periphery of American Electric Power Plant grounds. This caused a widespread power outage which also effected the local water plant. Two sections of the cooling tower of the power plant were also directly damaged by the wind.

Thunderstorm Wind, Rogers

When
August 23, 7:10 PM CST
Where
Rogers County, Claremore
Measured
57 kt (66 mph)
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.317, -95.600

Thunderstorm Wind, Osage

When
August 23, 8:10 PM CST
Where
Osage County, 10 mi SE of Bowring
Measured
62 kt (71 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
36.783, -95.983

The automated observing equipment at Frank Phillips Airport near Bartlesville measured a wind gust of 71 miles an hour.

Thunderstorm Wind, Washington

When
August 23, 8:10 PM CST
Where
Washington County, Bartlesville
Measured
61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
36.750, -96.000

Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down trees in the northwest part of Bartlesville.

Hail, Washington

When
August 23, 8:10 PM CST
Where
Washington County, Bartlesville
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
36.750, -96.000

Thunderstorm Wind, Osage

When
August 23, 9:20 PM CST
Where
Osage County, 4 mi N of Hominy
Measured
57 kt (66 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
36.467, -96.400

Hail, Osage

When
August 23, 9:40 PM CST
Where
Osage County, 4 mi N of Hominy
Measured
1.5 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
36.467, -96.400

Thunderstorm Wind, Pawnee

When
August 23, 10:40 PM CST
Where
Pawnee County, Cleveland
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.317, -96.467

Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down large tree limbs.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, August 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5312997, 5312998, 5312999, 5313000, 5313001, 5313002, 5313003, 5313074, 5313065, 5313066, 5313075, 5313067, 5313068, 5313069, 5313070, 5313071, 5313072, 5313073.