Flash Flood and Hail in Oklahoma, May 7, 2002

Name: Flash Flood and Hail in Oklahoma, May 7, 2002
Start: 2002-05-07T14:09
End: 2002-05-07T23:00
Location: Oklahoma

May 7, 2002 · NWS TSA · 9 events in 5 counties and zones

5 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 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: 0
Property damage: $1,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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 May 7, 9:15 AM CST, 4 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 7, 9:15 AM CST, 4 hours 54 minutes before

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1015 AM CDT TUE MAY 7 2002

CURRENTLY WATCHING CONVECTION ACROSS SE KS AND SW MO THIS MORNING.
EXPECT CONVECTION TO WEAKEN AS THE MORNING PROGRESSES. OUTFLOW
BOUNDARY ROUGHLY APPROACHING A KJLN-KSGF LINE WAS SLOWLY SAGGING
SOUTH.  WITH A FAIRLY STRONG CAP NOTED PER AREA SOUNDINGS...THINK
CHANCES FOR SURFACE BASED CONVECTION THIS AFTERNOON ARE SLIM.  HOW
FAR SOUTH OUTFLOW BOUNDARY WILL MOVE REMAINS IN QUESTION...SO LOW
POPS ACROSS NE OK AND NW AR LOOK REASONABLE.  MAX TEMPERATURES LOOK
GOOD FOR THIS AFTERNOON AS WELL...SO NO UPDATE IS PLANNED THIS
MORNING.

FCSTID = 23

.TSA...
AR...NONE.
OK...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 7, 12:20 PM CST, 1 hour 49 minutes before

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-081100-

EASTERN OKLAHOMA / NORTHWEST ARKANSAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
120 PM CDT TUE MAY 7 2002

...A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT ACROSS NORTHEAST
OKLAHOMA AND EXTREME NORTHWEST ARKANSAS...

ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ACROSS SOUTHWEST MISSOURI EARLY THIS
AFTERNOON AND WERE MOVING EAST...WHILE ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY HAS
DEVELOP ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST
OKLAHOMA...AND WAS MOVING NORTHEAST INTO SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST
KANSAS.

ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING ACROSS CENTRAL KANSAS NEAR A STATIONARY FRONT. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS MAY PUSH INTO NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND EXTREME NORTHWEST
ARKANSAS TONIGHT. A SECOND FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE THE
DRYLINE SITUATED ACROSS WESTERN OKLAHOMA. STORMS THAT DEVELOP AND
MOVE EAST OFF THE DRYLINE MAY ENTER NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA LATE TONIGHT.
SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS
THE PRIMARY THREAT.

.SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED OVER NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND FAR
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AFTER MIDNIGHT.

.DISCUSSION...

ONGOING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHERN
OKLAHOMA...SOUTHERN KANSAS AND SOUTHERN MISSOURI IS EXPECTED TO
WEAKEN THIS AFTERNOON AS THE LOW AND MID LEVEL JET DYNAMICS
SUBSIDE.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AGAIN BY LATE AFTERNOON ALONG
A STATIONARY FRONT THAT EXTENDS FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST ACROSS
KANSAS.  THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOST LIKELY EVOLVE INTO A MESOSCALE
CONVECTIVE SYSTEM TONIGHT AND HEAD TO THE SOUTHEAST. THIS ACTIVITY
WILL BE SUSTAINED AS A 55 KNOT LOW LEVEL JET IS REESTABLISHED ACROSS
OKLAHOMA AND SOUTHWEST MISSOURI THIS EVENING.  THUNDERSTORMS THAT
DEVELOP ALONG THE DRYLINE ACROSS PARTS OF WESTERN OKLAHOMA WILL MOVE
EAST....POSSIBLY MOVING INTO PARTS OF NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AFTER
MIDNIGHT. DAYTIME HEATING WILL BE HAMPERED ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN
OKLAHOMA BY EXTENSIVE MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS. THIS COMBINED WITH
A FAIRLY STRONG CAP MAY LIMIT WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT.

THREAT TABLE
VALID THROUGH 1200 UTC WEDNESDAY

AREA 1...NORTH OF A BRISTOW TO WAGONER TO FAYETTEVILLE LINE
THUNDERSTORM PROBABILITY...20
SEVERE PROBABILITY IF STORMS OCCUR...50
SIGNIFICANT SEVERE PROBABILITY IF STORMS OCCUR...05

THREAT AREAS DEFINE THE GREATEST RISK. PROBABILITIES ARE IN PERCENT.
SIGNIFICANT SEVERE IS DEFINED AS F1 OR GREATER WIND/TORNADO DAMAGE
AND/OR GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL OR LARGER.

RELATED GRAPHICAL INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT:
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 116 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:09 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Osage

When: May 7, 2:09 PM CST
Where: Osage County, Webb City
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 36.800, -96.700

Hail, Osage

When: May 7, 2:25 PM CST
Where: Osage County, Grainola
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 36.950, -96.650

Hail, Osage

When: May 7, 2:54 PM CST
Where: Osage County, 6 mi NW of Bigheart
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 36.917, -96.300

Hail, Washington

When: May 7, 3:39 PM CST
Where: Washington County, Copan
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.900, -95.933

Thunderstorm Wind, Nowata

When: May 7, 4:05 PM CST
Where: Nowata County, South Coffeyville
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.983, -95.617

Hail, Washington

When: May 7, 4:07 PM CST
Where: Washington County, Copan
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.900, -95.933

Thunderstorm Wind, Craig

When: May 7, 4:53 PM CST
Where: Craig County, Welch
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: UTILITY COMPANY
Coordinates: 36.867, -95.100

Thunderstorms winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew large trees limbs down onto power lines.

Thunderstorm Wind, Ottawa

When: May 7, 9:15 PM CST
Where: Ottawa County, Fairland
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: UTILITY COMPANY
Coordinates: 36.750, -94.850

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

Flash Flood, Nowata

When: May 7, 9:30 PM CST to 11:00 PM CST
Where: Nowata County, South Coffeyville
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.799, -95.617 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy thunderstorm rains caused severe street flooding in South Coffeyville and flooded several rural roads near South Coffeyville.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, May 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: 5295029, 5295030, 5295031, 5295032, 5295033, 5295034, 5295035, 5295036, 5295037.