Heavy rain caused a moderate flood on Bird Creek near Sperry.
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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 episode as NWS TSA wrote it up.
Heavy rain caused a moderate flood on Bird Creek near Sperry.
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 8, 2:43 AM CST, 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 343 AM CDT THU MAY 8 2008 .DISCUSSION... UPPER LOW CONTINUES A STEADY TRACK EASTWARD THIS MORNING WITH SCATTERED LIGHT RAIN AND DRIZZLE CONTINUING WITHIN THE WRAP AROUND CLOUD SHIELD. CHANCES OF MEASURABLE RAINFALL ARE LOW THIS MORNING THOUGH DRIZZLE MAY CONTINUE WELL AFTER SUNRISE OVER NORTHERN AREAS. OTHERWISE...SKIES WILL CLEAR FROM WEST TO EAST WHICH WILL ALLOW MUCH WARMER TEMPS THAN YESTERDAY. GOOD MODEL AGREEMENT ON MCS DEVELOPMENT OVER THE FRONT RANGE AHEAD OF THE NEXT FAST MOVING SHORTWAVE TROUGH. GENERALLY AGREED UPON TRACK OF THE CONVECTIVE COMPLEX IS MAINLY ACROSS AREAS TO OUR NORTH AND OUR FORECAST CHANCES WILL CARRY THE SAME NORTH TO SOUTH GRADIENT. ANY PRECIP WILL HAVE ENDED BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON AS THE UPPER WAVE MOVES FURTHER EASTWARD...AND THE ASSOCIATED FRONTAL BOUNDARY MAKES A MOVE BACK SOUTHWARD. THE PRIMARY EFFECTS OF THE FRONTAL LOCATION WILL BE ON DEWPOINTS WITH A BRIEF DRIER PERIOD FRIDAY NIGHT ALLOWING OVERNIGHT LOWS TO COOL BELOW NORMAL. ACTIVE PATTERN BRINGS A STRONGER UPPER WAVE ACROSS THE ROCKIES ON SATURDAY WITH A DEEPENING SURFACE LOW EXPECTED TO TRACK FROM WEST TEXAS...ACROSS OKLAHOMA...AND INTO THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY BETWEEN SUNRISE SATURDAY TO SUNRISE SUNDAY. CONDITIONS LOCALLY WILL UNDERGO MEANINGFUL CHANGE DURING THIS PROCESS AS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE SURGES NORTHWARD AHEAD OF THE SURFACE LOW...WHILE TEMPERATURES ARE LIKELY TO WARM WELL ABOVE NORMAL ESPECIALLY OVER SOUTHERN LOCATIONS. RESULTANT INSTABILITY TRENDS WILL RAMP UPWARD DURING THE DAY WITH THE LIKELIHOOD OF A SUBSTANTIAL CAPPING INVERSION KEEPING THUNDERSTORMS AT BAY UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON. A FAVORED AREA FOR INITIAL CONVECTION WILL BE JUST AHEAD OF SURFACE LOW TRACK THUS HIGHER STORM CHANCES ARE FORECAST FOR FAR NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA INTO NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. STORMS WILL ALSO ATTEMPT TO BUILD SOUTHWARD ALONG ADVANCING DRYLINE PENDING THE OVERALL CAP STRENGTH. THE EXACT TRACK AND TIMING OF THESE FEATURES WILL BE REFINED...HOWEVER SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE GIVEN THE EXPECTED INSTABILITY AND SHEAR PROFILES. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD THROUGH THE SOUTHERN PLAINS SUNDAY AND SHIFT EASTWARD ON MONDAY PROVIDING A FEW PLEASANT AND DRY DAYS. THE UPPER WAVE AND ASSOCIATED FRONTAL FEATURES WILL AFFECT THE AREA BY TUESDAY...WITH THE DEGREE OF MOISTURE RETURN LIKELY A FACTOR GIVEN THE PREVIOUS GULF FRONTAL INTRUSION. THE UPPER PATTERN BY MID WEEK BECOMES MORE UNCERTAIN...HOWEVER THE GENERAL IDEA IS OF DEEP TROUGHING PREVAILING OVER THE EASTERN U.S. WHICH MAY PROVIDE SEVERAL DAYS NEXT WEEK OF TEMPERATURES BELOW NORMAL ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TUL 77 59 79 56 / 10 20 10 10 FSM 77 57 83 56 / 10 10 10 10 MLC 77 57 83 61 / 10 10 10 10 BVO 75 55 77 55 / 10 30 10 10 FYV 73 53 76 54 / 10 20 20 10 BYV 72 53 74 52 / 20 20 20 10 MKO 76 57 80 57 / 10 20 10 10 MIO 74 55 74 51 / 10 40 20 10 F10 76 57 80 59 / 10 10 10 10 HHW 80 59 86 62 / 10 10 10 10 && .TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...NONE. AR...NONE. && SHORT TERM...17 LONG TERM....07
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 1110 PM CDT WED MAY 7 2008 ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-081000- ADAIR OK-BENTON AR-CARROLL AR-CHEROKEE OK-CHOCTAW OK-CRAIG OK- CRAWFORD AR-CREEK OK-DELAWARE OK-FRANKLIN AR-HASKELL OK-LATIMER OK- LE FLORE OK-MADISON AR-MAYES OK-MCINTOSH OK-MUSKOGEE OK-NOWATA OK- OKFUSKEE OK-OKMULGEE OK-OSAGE OK-OTTAWA OK-PAWNEE OK-PITTSBURG OK- PUSHMATAHA OK-ROGERS OK-SEBASTIAN AR-SEQUOYAH OK-TULSA OK-WAGONER OK- WASHINGTON OK-WASHINGTON AR- 1109 PM CDT WED MAY 7 2008 THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. FLASH FLOOD. RISK...ELEVATED. AREA...NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA. ONSET...ONGOING DUE TO PREVIOUS HEAVY RAINS. DISCUSSION... WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAINS HAVE FALLEN ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA...AND WHILE ONLY SCATTERED LIGHT RAIN CONTINUES...THE RISK FOR FLASH FLOODING WILL CONTINUE AS WATER LEVELS RECEDE. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT CROSS WATER COVERED ROADWAYS. SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION NOT EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THURSDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. FRIDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. SATURDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. SUNDAY...NO HAZARDS. MONDAY...NO HAZARDS. TUESDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. EXTENDED DISCUSSION... A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL REMAIN IN OUR AREA THE NEXT FEW DAYS KEEPING THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST. THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE WITH AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM LATE SATURDAY OR SATURDAY NIGHT...IF SUFFICIENT MOISTURE CAN RETURN AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM. ANOTHER FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TUESDAY. WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL TABULAR AND GRAPHICAL INFORMATION.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Bird Creek near Sperry rose above its flood stage of 21 feet at 4:00 am cdt on May 8th. The river crested at 24.41 feet at 1:30 pm cdt the same day. The river fell below its flood stage at 7:30 am cdt on May 9th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, May 2008
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: 107770.