A very moist and unstable air mass spread across the Southern Plains ahead of a strong cold front that moved into eastern Oklahoma during the afternoon hours of the 8th. Widespread showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of the front, which produced locally heavy rainfall amounts of two to five inches with as much as seven inches occurring in portions of northeast Oklahoma.
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 episode as NWS TSA wrote it up.
A very moist and unstable air mass spread across the Southern Plains ahead of a strong cold front that moved into eastern Oklahoma during the afternoon hours of the 8th. Widespread showers and thunderstorms developed ahead of the front, which produced locally heavy rainfall amounts of two to five inches with as much as seven inches occurring in portions of northeast Oklahoma.
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 Oct 8, 10:35 AM CST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
957 AM CDT THU OCT 8 2009
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-091000-
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-
957 AM CDT THU OCT 8 2009
....STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE WITH HEAVY RAINFALL AND
FLOODING LIKELY THROUGH TONIGHT...
THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.
.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.
TORNADO.
RISK...LIMITED.
AREA....SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
ONSET....THIS AFTERNOON
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.
RISK...ELEVATED.
AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
ONSET...EARLY AFTERNOON.
FLASH FLOOD.
RISK...SIGNIFICANT.
AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
ONSET...ONGOING.
HEAVY RAIN.
RISK...SIGNIFICANT.
AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
ONSET...ONGOING.
DISCUSSION...
A WARM FRONT WAS LIFTING NORTH TOWARD THE RED RIVER THIS MORNING
WITH INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA.
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE ACROSS
PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA THIS MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON
HOURS AS A STRONG LOW LEVEL JET REMAINS OVER THE AREA. DUE TO THE
HIGH RAINFALL RATES...FLASH FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE AS STORMS MOVE
OVER THE SAME AREAS.
AS THE WARM FRONT BEGINS TO LIFT NORTH INTO SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA
AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON...THE ATMOSPHERE WILL
BECOME MODERATELY UNSTABLE WITH A FEW BREAKS IN THE CLOUD COVER. A
COLD FRONT WILL PUSH INTO NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA THIS AFTERNOON WITH
THE BOUNDARY PUSHING TO NEAR THE INTERSTATE 44 CORRIDOR BY LATE
AFTERNOON. ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE FRONT...SCATTERED STRONG TO
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY DEVELOP WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR
DAMAGING WINDS AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL. THE THUNDERSTORM LINE WILL
PUSH INTO SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THIS EVENING
INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS WITH A CONTINUED SEVERE THREAT...
INCLUDING THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING.
IN ADDITION...DUE THE STRONG WIND FIELDS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THIS
SYSTEM...EMBEDDED MESOCYCLONES WITHIN ONE OR MORE THUNDERSTORM
LINES WILL POSE A LIMITED TORNADO THREAT...PRIMARILY ACROSS
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING.
WIDESPREAD TWO TO FOUR INCH RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE COMMON ACROSS
THE ENTIRE AREA...WITH 6 TO 8 INCHES POSSIBLE IN VERY ISOLATED
BANDS.
SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT...
ACTIVATION OF THE REGIONAL SPOTTER NETWORK LIKELY.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
FRIDAY...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL.
SATURDAY...NO HAZARDS.
SUNDAY...NO HAZARDS.
MONDAY...NO HAZARDS.
TUESDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL.
WEDNESDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION...
THE COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO SHIFT SOUTHEAST OF THE REGION AROUND MID
MORNING FRIDAY...ENDING THE SEVERE WEATHER AND FLASH FLOODING
THREAT. RIVER AND AREAL FLOODING HOWEVER COULD CONTINUE ON FRIDAY
DUE TO THE PREVIOUS HEAVY RAINFALL.
COOL WEATHER IS EXPECTED FOR THE WEEKEND AS HIGH PRESSURE MOVES
INTO THE AREA WITH THE NEXT THREAT OF STORMS ABOUT MID-WEEK.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLANNING STATEMENT...
SHOULD THE FORECAST RAINFALL BE REALIZED...RIVER FLOODING
WILL LIKELY BECOME AN ISSUE.
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.The Tulsa radar (KINX), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:33 UTC.
19 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several roads were flooded and closed in and around Miami as well as across the rural areas of northern Ottawa County.
Several county roads were flooded in and around Pawnee.
Numerous roads were flooded in and around Centralia as well as across rural areas of northern Craig County.
Numerous small creeks flooded roads in and around Nowata as well as across rural areas of the county. Some of these roads remained flooded through the morning of the 9th.
Numerous streets were flooded in Bartlesville and Ochelata.
Portions of Highway 11 were closed due to flooding.
Multiple streets were flooded and closed in and around Tulsa. Several water rescues were conducted as motorists became stranded in flood waters.
Numerous roads were flooded and closed due to high water.
Numerous roads were flooded and closed due to high water. Multiple water rescues occurred as motorists became stranded in flood water.
Several roads were flooded and closed due to high water.
Several roads were flooded and closed due to high water.
Numerous roads were flooded in and around Tahlequah as well as in the northern and eastern portions of the county. Several water rescues were conducted as motorists became stranded in flood waters.
Numerous roads were flooded and closed throughout the county, at least one of which had portions washed out.
Numerous roads were flooded in and around Eufaula and Rentiesville.
Numerous roads were flooded in and around McAlester, Arpelar, and Alderson as well as across the rural areas of the county. Flood water entered at least one home in McAlester. Several water rescues were conducted as motorists became stranded in flood water.
Numerous roads were flooded in and around Lequire as well as across the rural areas of southeast Haskell County.
Several roads were flooded in and around Bokoshe and Poteau as well as across the rural areas of northern Le Flore County. Several water rescues were conducted as motorists became stranded in flood water.
Several roads were flooded in and around Wilburton and Red Oak.
Several county roads were flooded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, October 2009
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 200564, 200517, 200516, 200506, 200507, 200508, 200509, 200519, 200520, 200521, 200518, 200510, 200523, 200511, 200512, 200513, 200514, 200515, 200522.