Oklahoma, 2009

Flood in Oklahoma, October 9, 2009

October 9, 2009 · NWS TSA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Tropical moisture interacting with a slow-moving cold front produced widespread heavy rainfall across northeastern Oklahoma on October 8th with amounts from two to five inches common and amounts of five to seven inches locally. This heavy rainfall resulted in moderate flooding along the Baron Fork River near Eldon.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 happened

The episode as NWS TSA wrote it up.

Tropical moisture interacting with a slow-moving cold front produced widespread heavy rainfall across northeastern Oklahoma on October 8th with amounts from two to five inches common and amounts of five to seven inches locally. This heavy rainfall resulted in moderate flooding along the Baron Fork River near Eldon.

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 Oct 9, 5:35 AM CST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 9, 5:35 AM CST, 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
635 AM CDT FRI OCT 9 2009

.AVIATION...
CONCERNING TAF SITES KTUL/KRVS/KMLC/KXNA/KFYV/KFSM.
WIDESPREAD PREVAILING MVFR CONDITIONS EXIST AS MOISTURE CONTINUES
TO STREAM NORTHWARD BEHIND A COLD FRONT WHICH PASSED THROUGH
OVERNIGHT. AREAS OF IFR ARE ALSO NOTED WITHIN HEAVIER PRECIP...AND
ARE FORECAST TO REMAINS PRESENT THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS.
IMPROVING FLIGHT CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED BY LATE AFTERNOON. FOG
POTENTIAL LOOKS HIGH FOR TONIGHT AND THIS FORECAST WILL START THE
TREND TOWARD POSSIBLE IMPACTS ESPECIALLY ACROSS KFYV/KXNA.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 412 AM CDT FRI OCT 9 2009/

DISCUSSION...
WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAINFALL FROM YESTERDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH PRESENT
HAS LEFT SWATH OF 2-5 INCH AMOUNTS OVER MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA
WITH HEAVY RAIN STILL FALLING ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. RAIN WILL GRADUALLY CONTINUE TO SHIFT SOUTH
WITH MOST AREAS DRY AFTER 18Z. WILL DROP COUNTIES ROUGHLY ALONG
AND NORTH OF I-44 FROM THE WATCH WITH FORECAST ISSUANCE AS ONLY
PATCHY LIGHT RAINFALL EXPECTED EARLY THIS MORNING. AREAS TO THE
SOUTH OF MLC-FYV WILL LIKELY SEE ANOTHER 1-3 INCHES OF RAIN
THROUGH 18Z.

COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO PLUNGE THROUGH THE SOUTHERN AREAS
PRIOR TO 12Z AND SOME SUCH LOCATIONS HAVE ALREADY SEEN THE HIGH
TEMP FOR TODAY AS LINGERING CLOUD COVER AND COLD ADVECTION BRING
TEMPS DOWN CONSIDERABLY THIS MORNING WITH ONLY LIMITED RECOVERY.
POSSIBLE FOR A FEW BREAKS LATE THIS AFTERNOON OVER NORTHWEST AREAS
WHERE TEMPS MAY RECOVER LATE. IN ANY CASE WILL FORECAST HIGHS
BELOW GUIDANCE AND IN GENERAL WILL SIDE WITH THE SLIGHTLY COOLER
MET NUMBERS FOR TONIGHT. CONDITIONS UPSTREAM SUPPORT SOME
POTENTIAL FOR PATCHY FROST TONIGHT IN NORTHERN AREAS IF SKIES
REMAIN CLEAR...HOWEVER THE MOIST GROUND CONDITIONS LIKELY WILL
PREVENT THIS FROM OCCURRING. SOME POTENTIAL FOR DENSE FOG WILL
EXIST.

FORECAST DOES NOT GET ANY EASIER THIS WEEKEND AS A SHALLOW ARCTIC
AIRMASS MORE REMINISCENT OF MID JANUARY PLUNGES SOUTH THROUGH THE
PLAINS AND WILL ENTER THE CWA LATE SATURDAY. AS EXPECTED THE
MODELS ARE NOT HANDLING THIS SCENARIO WELL AT ALL AND MAY WELL BE
MODIFYING THE COLD AIR MUCH TOO QUICKLY SUNDAY. MORE LIKELY FOR
THIS TO HAPPEN FARTHER SOUTH AND EAST WHERE SHALLOW AIRMASS GETS
HUNG UP IN THE TERRAIN...BUT AREAS TO THE NORTH AND WEST WILL SEE
HIGH TEMPS ALMOST 30 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL WITH PERSISTENT LOW
CLOUDS. IF ENOUGH CLEARING CAN OCCUR...A WIDESPREAD FREEZE WOULD
SEEM LIKELY ACROSS MUCH OF THE NORTHERN AREAS BY SUNDAY MORNING AS
THIS AIRMASS IS COLDER THAN ANY WE HAVE SEEN THIS EARLY IN THE
SEASON IN A LONG TIME. HOWEVER...THIS IS A VERY UNCERTAIN
PROPOSITION AT THIS POINT. FOR THE TIME BEING HAVE LEANED HEAVILY
ON THE COOLER MET WHICH MAY EVEN BE A BIT TOO WARM.

AND NO...IT DOES NOT GET EASIER NEXT WEEK EITHER. EVENTUALLY THE
SHALLOW ARCTIC AIR SHOULD ERODE EARLY NEXT WEEK BUT ANOTHER
REINFORCING SHOT MAY COME DOWN MID WEEK. BUT AGAIN...THIS IS VERY
UNCERTAIN AS THE FLOW ALOFT IS MUCH MORE ZONAL IN NATURE BY THIS
TIME. WHAT APPEARS LIKELY IS A GRAY AND POSSIBLY WET WEEK WITH
TEMPS REMAINING SOMEWHAT BELOW NORMAL...JUST HOW MUCH REMAINS TO
BE SEEN. IN GENERAL WILL GO COOLER THAN MEX GUIDANCE THROUGH
WEDNESDAY...WITH A MORE SIGNIFICANT UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM POSSIBLE
THURSDAY LEADING TO A WARMER TREND WITH HIGHER THUNDERSTORM
CHANCES.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
TUL   56  38  59  36 /  40   0   0  10
FSM   56  42  68  47 / 100   0   0  10
MLC   57  41  67  40 /  80   0   0  10
BVO   57  33  57  34 /  20   0   0  10
FYV   50  34  62  39 /  80   0   0  10
BYV   49  37  60  39 / 100   0   0  10
MKO   54  39  64  40 /  60   0   0  10
MIO   52  35  58  34 /  40   0   0  10
F10   57  39  63  38 /  60   0   0  10
HHW   56  44  66  47 / 100   0   0  10

&&

.TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 1 PM FRIDAY FOR OKZ049-OKZ053-OKZ063-OKZ065-
     OKZ066-OKZ067-OKZ068-OKZ069-OKZ070-OKZ071-OKZ072-OKZ073-
     OKZ074-OKZ075-OKZ076.

AR...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 1 PM FRIDAY FOR ARZ001-ARZ002-ARZ010-ARZ011-
     ARZ019-ARZ020-ARZ029.

&&

AVIATION...07
Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 9, 4:05 AM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes before
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 9, 12:52 AM CST, 4 hours 53 minutes before
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<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
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      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
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        Please try again in a few minutes.
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Cherokee

When
October 9, 5:45 AM CST to 5:30 PM CST
Where
Cherokee County, 1 mi NW of Eldon to 1 mi SW of Eldon
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Official NWS Observations
Coordinates
35.940, -94.843

The Baron Fork River near Eldon rose above its flood stage of 18 feet at 6:45 a.m. CDT on October 9th. The river crested at 21.77 feet at 10:00 a.m. CDT on the 9th, resulting in moderate flooding. The river fell below flood stage at 6:30 p.m. CDT on the 9th.

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, October 2009

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: 199447.