Flash Flooding and Flooding in Oklahoma, November 1 to 6, 2004

Name: Flash Flooding and Flooding in Oklahoma, November 1 to 6, 2004
Start: 2004-11-01T00:00
End: 2004-11-06T19:45
Location: Oklahoma

November 1 to 6, 2004 · NWS OUN · 6 events in 3 counties and zones

3 flood, 3 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 31, 9:09 PM CST, 2 hours 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 31, 9:09 PM CST, 2 hours 51 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
909 PM CST SUN OCT 31 2004

.DISCUSSION...
RAIN/TSTORMS EXTEND SSW ACROSS TX TO RIO GRANDE...MOVING NE. POPS
INCREASED TO 100 TONIGHT ACROSS SE HALF OF AREA...FOR OBVIOUS
REASONS. FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES OVER SCENTRAL/SE OK. TEMPS NOT
EXPECTED TO CHANGE MUCH OVERNIGHT. TEMPS MAY RISE LATER IN SE OK IF
SURFACE FRONT...WHICH HAS MOVED VERY LITTLE PAST 24 HOURS... FINALLY
LIFTS N OF RED RIVER.

LOOKING MORE AND MORE LIKE A SIGNIFICANT HEAVY SNOW EVENT FOR
MOUNTAINS AND HIGH PLAINS OF NM AND W TX LATE MON INTO TUE.
ACCUMULATIONS UNLIKELY TO MAKE IT E OF THE CAPROCK...BUT MIX OF RAIN
AND WET SNOW APPEARS POSSIBLE OVER EXTREME W/SW PARTS OF AREA ON TUE
BENEATH COLD UPPER LOW.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
OKLAHOMA CITY OK  58  66  43  54 /  90  40  60  30
HOBART OK         54  64  41  56 /  60  40  60  30
WICHITA FALLS TX  59  68  46  56 /  90  30  50  20
GAGE OK           49  55  34  54 /  20  40  60  30
PONCA CITY OK     57  64  42  51 /  80  70  60  30
DURANT OK         64  71  50  55 / 100  60  40  30

&&

.OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...NONE.
TX...NONE.

&&

24

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 31, 10:34 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1034 PM CST SUN OCT 31 2004

OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-011300-

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK COVERS NORTHERN...WESTERN...
CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT...

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED.

DISCUSSION...
A LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS...EXTENDING FROM
CENTRAL AND EASTERN OKLAHOMA SOUTHWESTWARD ALL THE WAY TO THE BIG
BEND AREA OF TEXAS....WILL CONTINUE MOVING NORTHEAST ACROSS THE SAME
PARTS OF OKLAHOMA AND NORTH TEXAS OVERNIGHT. ALTHOUGH VERTICAL WIND
PROFILES WILL REMAIN SOMEWHAT FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE STORMS...LIMITED
INSTABILITY WILL MINIMIZE THE CHANCES OF SEVERE WEATHER OVERNIGHT.

PROBABILITY TABLE...
VALID THROUGH 700 AM CST MONDAY NOV 1.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE
              NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...100 PERCENT.
PROBABILITY OF SEVERE STORMS IF STORMS OCCUR...10 PERCENT.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
HEAVY RAIN IS LIKELY ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTHEAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL
OKLAHOMA...WHICH COULD CAUSE FLOODING PROBLEMS LATER TONIGHT. REFER
TO THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS MONDAY ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL
AND SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA. THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE MONDAY ALONG AND
AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT... AND IN ADVANCE OF A STRONG UPPER STORM
SYSTEM APPROACHING FROM THE SOUTHWEST. VERTICAL WIND SHEAR WILL
REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR A FEW SEVERE STORMS... EVEN THOUGH CAPE VALUES
ARE EXPECTED TO BE ONLY MODEST.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
STRONG NORTH WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA
BY MONDAY AFTERNOON...SPREADING ACROSS THE REST OF OKLAHOMA AND
NORTH TEXAS BY MONDAY NIGHT. SPEEDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WILL BE
COMMON...WITH GUSTS OVER 40 MPH POSSIBLE. THESE WINDS COULD CAUSE
PROBLEMS FOR DRIVERS OF HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES ON EAST WEST ROADS.
ALSO... A LIGHT FREEZE WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA
TUESDAY MORNING AND WEDNESDAY MORNING.

THE NEXT SCHEDULED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AT 7 AM
MONDAY.

24

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 31, 10:11 PM CST, 1 hour 49 minutes before

FREEZE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1011 PM CST SUN OCT 31 2004

OKZ004>006-009>011-014-015-011200-

...A LIGHT FREEZE POSSIBLE OVER NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA WEDNESDAY
MORNING...

A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION LATE MONDAY...
ALLOWING MUCH COOLER AIR TO FILTER INTO OKLAHOMA. TEMPERATURES WILL
LIKELY FALL INTO THE MID 30S ACROSS FAR NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA LATE
MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING. CLOUDS AND MODERATELY STRONG NORTH
WINDS WILL LIMIT THE CHANCE OF FROST IN THESE AREAS. BUT BY EARLY
WEDNESDAY MORNING...MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHTER WINDS WILL ALLOW
TEMPERATURES ACROSS ROUGHLY THE NORTHWESTERN QUARTER OF OKLAHOMA TO
FALL TO NEAR OR SLIGHTLY BELOW FREEZING. ALTHOUGH THIS IS NOT
EXPECTED TO BE A HARD FREEZE...TENDER VEGETATION WILL BE AFFECTED.

OVER THE REST OF OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS...TEMPERATURES
WEDNESDAY MORNING ARE FORECAST TO DROP INTO THE MID TO UPPER 30S.
FROST WILL BE POSSIBLE AS FAR SOUTH AS PARTS OF SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA
AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.

STAY TUNED FOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS FROM THE NWS
NORMAN FORECAST OFFICE.

CJS/24

The radar

The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 flood, 3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Stephens

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 6, 7:45 PM CST
Where: Stephens forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 34.486, -97.851 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rainfall totals of 2 to 3.5 inches on October 30-November 1 over the Mud Creek basin in south central Oklahoma produced river flooding in Stephens County. Runoff from these rains caused Mud Creek to overflow its banks and produce minor agricultural and lowland flooding in eastern Jefferson County on November 1-6. Mud Creek crested at 24.0 feet, 4.0 feet above flood stage, at 8:00 am CST on November 4 at the USGS river gage site near Courtney, OK. Mud Creek remained above flood stage from 12:00 am CST on November 1 to 7:45 pm CST on November 6.Heavy rainfall totals of 2 to 5.5 inches on October 30-November 1 over southeastern Oklahoma also produced river flooding in Atoka County. Significant runoff from these heavy rains produced minor agricultural flooding along Clear Boggy Creek on November 1-5. Clear Boggy Creek crested at 22.0 feet, 3.0 feet above flood stage, at 2:00 pm CST on November 3 at the NWS river gage site near Caney. Clear Boggy Creek remained above flood stage from 8:00 am CST on November 1 to 5:00 pm CST on November 5.

Flood, Atoka

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 6, 7:45 PM CST
Where: Atoka forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 34.374, -96.038 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Jefferson

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 6, 7:45 PM CST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 34.111, -97.836 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Atoka

When: November 1, 6:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where: Atoka County, 2 mi E of Wardville
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.374, -96.038 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

In addition to the riverine flooding which took place in Atoka County, flash flooding also occurred in the northern half of the county during the morning of November 1. Law enforcement officials reported that Oklahoma State Highway 131 was closed due to high water from North Boggy Creek 2 miles east of Wardville.

Flash Flood, Atoka

When: November 1, 6:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where: Atoka County, Atoka
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 34.374, -96.038 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Atoka County officials reported that floodwaters from Muddy Boggy Creek had inundated some local roads just north of the city of Atoka.

Flash Flood, Atoka

When: November 1, 6:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where: Atoka County, Stringtown
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 34.374, -96.038 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Atoka County officials reported that Oklahoma State Highway 43 had flooded in the vicinity of Stringtown.

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, November 2004

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: 5425977, 5425978, 5425979, 5425976, 5425980, 5425981.