2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 Dec 17, 10:50 PM CST, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.
EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OKLAHOMA 1050 PM CST TUE DEC 17 2002 ANOTHER UPDATE ON THE WAY FOR TORNADO WATCH 779. NO OTHER CHANGES TO FORECAST AT THIS TIME. .TSA... AR...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 4 AM ARZ001-002-010-011. OK...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 4 AM OKZ054>064-067>069. SULLIVAN
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-181200-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
100 PM CST TUE DEC 17 2002
THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.
.DAY ONE...
SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
AREA 1...ALONG AND SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM NOWATA OKLAHOMA TO OKEMAH
OKLAHOMA
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS...90
IF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP...
PROBABILITY OF SEVERE STORMS...95
TIME OF INITIAL EVENT...817 PM
PROBABILITY OF A TORNADO / F2 OR GREATER TORNADO...5/0
PROBABILITY OF GOLFBALL HAIL OR LARGER...65
PROBABILITY OF 73 MPH WIND OR GREATER...15
GIVEN PROBABILITIES REPRESENT THE POTENTIAL FOR AN OCCURRENCE
ANYWHERE IN THE DEFINED AREA.
.DISCUSSION...
LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CONTINUES TO INCREASE EARLY THIS AFTERNOON WITH
DEWPOINTS NEARING 60 IN PARTS OF SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA. A DRYLINE WAS
DEVELOPING FROM NEAR BARTLESVILLE TO BRISTOW WITH DEWPOINTS AROUND
40 WEST OF THE DRYLINE.
THE DRYLINE WILL RETREAT A LITTLE BACK TO THE WEST THIS EVENING AND
SURFACE DEWPOINTS WILL RANGE FROM THE MID 50S NORTH AND WEST OF
TULSA TO THE LOWER 60S IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA. AN UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE WILL APPROACH THE AREA THIS EVENING WHICH WILL ALLOW
ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP WITHIN A FEW HOURS AFTER SUNSET.
FAVORABLE POSITIONING OF AN UPPER LEVEL WIND MAXIMUM ALONG WITH
ELEVATED LIFTED INDICES OF -2 TO -4 WILL RESULT IN A FEW SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA. FORECAST WIND FIELDS WILL BE
VERY FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT WITH VERY LARGE HAIL BUT
THE ELEVATED NATURE OF THE STORMS WILL LIKELY PREVENT TORNADIC
DEVELOPMENT. DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE A MUCH LESSER THREAT THAN HAIL
BUT A FEW WIND GUSTS OF 60 TO 70 MILES AN HOUR WILL BE POSSIBLE DUE
TO THE VERY STRONG WIND FIELDS.
THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE EAST OF THE AREA AROUND SUNRISE WEDNESDAY.
.SPOTTER / EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED IN THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS
EVENING AND OVERNIGHT.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
THERE WILL BE ANOTHER CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING...PRIMARILY ACROSS FAR EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS EAST OF THE DRYLINE. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS
THE AREA LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. ANOTHER FRONTAL SYSTEM
WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA SATURDAY BRINGING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
SHOWERS.
RELATED GRAPHICAL INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT...
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSAOKZ057-061-180215- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 708 PM CST TUE DEC 17 2002 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT IN EFFECT FOR CRAIG AND ROGERS COUNTIES UNTIL 815 PM CST... AT 708 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES SOUTH OF OOLOGAH...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH. A PORTION OF CRAIG AND ROGERS COUNTIES WILL BE AFFECTED BY THESE STORMS THROUGH 815 PM CST. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED.
OKZ070-180445- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 1039 PM CST TUE DEC 17 2002 TORNADO WATCH #189 THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR MUSKOGEE COUNTY HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
OKZ070-180445- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 1039 PM CST TUE DEC 17 2002 TORNADO WATCH #778 THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR MUSKOGEE COUNTY HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
The Tulsa radar (KINX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:19 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down a large tree limb.
Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down several large tree limbs.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, December 2002
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: 5325237, 5325238, 5325239.