Hail in Oklahoma, February 18, 2013

Name: Hail in Oklahoma, February 18, 2013
Start: 2013-02-18T12:10
End: 2013-02-18T14:30
Location: Oklahoma

February 18, 2013 · NWS TSA · 6 events in 4 counties and zones

Thunderstorms developed in advance of a cold front that moved through eastern Oklahoma during the afternoon of the 18th. The stronger storms produced hail up to golfball size.

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

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 happened

The episode as NWS TSA wrote it up.

Thunderstorms developed in advance of a cold front that moved through eastern Oklahoma during the afternoon of the 18th. The stronger storms produced hail up to golfball size.

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 Feb 18, 11:19 AM CST, 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 18, 11:19 AM CST, 51 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1119 AM CST MON FEB 18 2013

.AVIATION...
CONCERNING TAF SITES KTUL/KRVS/KBVO/KMLC/KXNA/KFYV/KFSM.
STRONG/GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY EVENING BEFORE
SUBSIDING.  SHOWERS WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED AHEAD OF
FRONT THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS NORTHWEST ARKANSAS SITES. THIS ACTIVITY
WILL LIKELY SHIFT EAST BY 22 TO 23Z. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS
EXPECTED.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1007 AM CST MON FEB 18 2013/

..UPDATE...

DISCUSSION...
WENT AHEAD AND ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY EFFECTIVE THROUGH THIS
AFTERNOON. SHOULD SEE OCCASIONAL WIND GUSTS ABOVE 40 MPH BOTH
AHEAD AND BEHIND THE FRONT ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA/
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THROUGH LATE AFTERNOON. SHOWERS CURRENTLY
STARTING TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF FRONT OVER NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA. THIS
ACTIVITY WILL LIKELY CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE INTO THE
AFTERNOON AS CONVECTION PUSHES INTO SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. INSTABILITY WILL LIKELY REMAIN LIMITED...BUT
COULD SEE A FEW STORMS APPROACH SEVERE LIMITS BEFORE EXITING
AFOREMENTIONED AREA.

&&

.TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM MONDAY FOR OKZ054-OKZ055-OKZ056-OKZ057-
     OKZ058-OKZ059-OKZ060-OKZ061-OKZ062-OKZ063-OKZ064-OKZ065-
     OKZ066-OKZ067-OKZ068-OKZ069-OKZ070-OKZ071-OKZ072-OKZ073-
     OKZ074-OKZ075-OKZ076.

AR...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM MONDAY FOR ARZ001-ARZ002-ARZ010-ARZ011-
     ARZ019-ARZ020-ARZ029.

&&

AVIATION...12

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 18, 10:25 AM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1025 AM CST MON FEB 18 2013

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-191100-
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-
1025 AM CST MON FEB 18 2013

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.
	RISK...LIMITED.
	AREA...FAR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
	ONSET...AFTERNOON.

SIGNIFICANT WINDS.
	RISK...ELEVATED.
	AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
	ONSET...ONGOING.

FIRE WEATHER DANGER.
	RISK...ELEVATED.
	AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
	ONSET...ONGOING.

DISCUSSION...
STRONG AND GUSTY SOUTH WINDS WILL CONTINUE THIS MORNING AHEAD OF AN
APPROACHING COLD FRONT...WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS BETWEEN 40 AND 45 MPH
ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. STRONG WINDS WILL
KEEP A ELEVATED FIRE SPREAD POTENTIAL GOING FOR MUCH OF THE  DAY...
HOWEVER THE OVERALL INCREASE IN LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AHEAD OF THE
FRONT WILL OFFSET SOME OF THIS THREAT. AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH
THIS AFTERNOON...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP
ACROSS FAR EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. WHILE
INSTABILITY WILL BE LIMITED...STRONG WIND SHEAR WILL SUPPORT A
LIMITED THREAT OF LARGE HAIL OR DAMAGING WINDS OVER EXTREME
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. THE STORMS WILL QUICKLY
MOVE EAST OF THE AREA BY LATE AFTERNOON.

SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT...
LOCAL SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.
TUESDAY...NO HAZARDS.
WEDNESDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL...WINTER WEATHER POTENTIAL...
...HIGH WIND POTENTIAL.
THURSDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL...VERY HIGH FIRE WEATHER
POTENTIAL...HIGH WIND POTENTIAL.
FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...NO HAZARDS.
SUNDAY...VERY HIGH FIRE WEATHER POTENTIAL...HIGH WIND POTENTIAL.

EXTENDED DISCUSSION...
A STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL APPROACH THE AREA WEDNESDAY. RAIN
WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE DAY WEDNESDAY...POSSIBLY
BEGINNING AS A LIGHT WINTRY MIX ACROSS NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AND
NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA. PRECIPITATION WILL INCREASE WITH THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPING WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND EARLY THURSDAY AS THE SYSTEM MOVES
CLOSER...WITH SOME POTENTIAL FOR FREEZING RAIN ACROSS PARTS OF
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. ANY WINTER WEATHER POTENTIAL DURING THIS
TIME WILL CONTINUE TO BE REFINED IN LATER FORECASTS.

WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:11 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Craig

When: February 18, 12:10 PM CST
Where: Craig County, 3 mi NW of Vinita
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 36.681, -95.188

Hail, Muskogee

When: February 18, 12:56 PM CST
Where: Muskogee County, Muskogee
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 35.750, -95.370

Hail, Sequoyah

When: February 18, 1:45 PM CST
Where: Sequoyah County, 4 mi WNW of Sallisaw
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 35.492, -94.866

Hail, Sequoyah

When: February 18, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Sequoyah County, 5 mi NE of Sallisaw
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 35.521, -94.737

Hail, Sequoyah

When: February 18, 2:05 PM CST
Where: Sequoyah County, 3 mi W of Short
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 35.570, -94.533

Hail, Le Flore

When: February 18, 2:30 PM CST
Where: Le Flore County, 0.94 mi NE of Spiro
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 35.241, -94.620

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, February 2013

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: 433031, 433032, 433033, 433034, 433035, 433036.