Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, April 23, 2003

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, April 23, 2003
Start: 2003-04-23T20:55
End: 2003-04-23T23:00
Location: Oklahoma

April 23, 2003 · NWS TSA · 8 events in 6 counties and zones

5 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 lightning, 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: $11,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

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 Apr 23, 8:30 PM CST, 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 23, 8:30 PM CST, 25 minutes before

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OKLAHOMA
930 PM CDT WED APR 23 2003

INCREASINGLY DIFFLUENT UPPER FLOW AND 45-50KT SLY H85 LOW-LEVEL JET
WILL AID IN MAINTAINING SVR WEATHER THREAT OVER MUCH OF ERN OK S OF
HIGHWAY 412 INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER
THREAT SHOULD BE LARGE HAIL FROM ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS.

NEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH BOX VALID THRU 3 AM WILL BE ISSUED
SHORTLY.

CURRENT FORECAST IN REASONABLE SHAPE...WILL MAKE A FEW TWEAKS TO
ACCOUNT FOR NEW WATCH BOX.

UPDATED ZONES OUT ASAP.

FORECAST ID = 18

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

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 23, 8:41 PM CST, 14 minutes before

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-241100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
941 PM CDT WED APR 23 2003

THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY TONIGHT...

A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM LOCATED OVER EASTERN COLORADO
THIS EVENING WILL CONTINUE TO APPROACH THE SOUTHERN PLAINS THROUGH
THE NIGHT. ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP IN
ADVANCE OF THE UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS
ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. SOME OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL THE PRIMARY
THREAT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND TORNADO WARNING PROBABILITIES CAN BE FOUND IN
THE OUTLOOK SECTION AT: WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA. GIVEN PROBABILITIES
REPRESENT THE POTENTIAL FOR A WARNING TO BE ISSUED AT YOUR LOCATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY
THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY WITH THE HIGHEST
CHANCES ACROSS NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.  SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE
WITH ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP THURSDAY AND LATER FORECASTS
SHOULD BE CLOSELY MONITORED FOR DETAILED SEVERE WEATHER THREATS.

DRY AND WARM CONDITIONS WILL RETURN BY FRIDAY AND EXTEND INTO THE
WEEKEND.  THE NEXT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS RETURNS ON MONDAY.

.SPOTTER / EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT...SPOTTER
ACTIVATION IS EXPECTED TONIGHT. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
SHOULD CONTINUE TO CLOSELY MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS.

ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT...
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 23, 8:36 PM CST, 19 minutes before

OKZ065-066-240330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
936 PM CDT WED APR 23 2003

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT IN EFFECT FOR OKMULGEE AND OKFUSKEE
   COUNTIES UNTIL 1030 PM CDT...

AT 936 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES
SOUTH OF BEARDEN...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH. THE
COMMUNITIES OF OKEMAH...BEARDEN...CLEARVIEW...PHAROAH...CASTLE...
OKFUSKEE...OKMULGEE...HENRYETTA AND SCHULTER WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS
STORM THROUGH 1030 PM CDT.

The radar

The Norman radar (KTLX), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:06 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Okfuskee

When: April 23, 8:55 PM CST
Where: Okfuskee County, 2 mi W of Okemah
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 35.466, -96.323 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck the roof of a home west of Okemah. The lightning made a hole in the roof and then traveled through the electrical system of the house where it exited an outlet and started a bed on fire. The fire department was immediately called and the fire did not spread beyond the bedroom.

Hail, Tulsa

When: April 23, 9:05 PM CST
Where: Tulsa County, Tulsa
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 36.150, -95.950

Penny size hail was reported near the intersection of Yale and Admiral.

Thunderstorm Wind, Pittsburg

When: April 23, 9:35 PM CST
Where: Pittsburg County, 5 mi W of Haywood
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 34.883, -96.033

Thunderstorm Wind, McIntosh

When: April 23, 9:50 PM CST
Where: McIntosh County, 7 mi N of Vernon
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 35.317, -95.933

Thunderstorm Wind, Pittsburg

When: April 23, 10:05 PM CST
Where: Pittsburg County, Hartshorne
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.833, -95.533

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

Hail, McIntosh

When: April 23, 10:10 PM CST
Where: McIntosh County, Checotah
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 35.433, -95.517

Thunderstorm Wind, Muskogee

When: April 23, 10:30 PM CST
Where: Muskogee County, 3 mi S of Braggs
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 35.617, -95.200

Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour damaged the roof to a house.

Thunderstorm Wind, Sequoyah

When: April 23, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Sequoyah County, 2 mi SSW of Sallisaw
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 35.433, -94.817

What these are

Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
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.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, April 2003

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: 5353216, 5353120, 5353118, 5353121, 5353119, 5353122, 5353123, 5353124.