A stationary front across southern Kansas in combination with a passing upper level disturbance resulted in widespread showers and thunderstorms over northeastern Oklahoma. Heavy rainfall was observed across the area, resulting in some flash flooding.
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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.
A stationary front across southern Kansas in combination with a passing upper level disturbance resulted in widespread showers and thunderstorms over northeastern Oklahoma. Heavy rainfall was observed across the area, resulting in some flash flooding.
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 Jul 21, 5:05 AM CST, 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 605 AM CDT SUN JUL 21 2013 .AVIATION... CONCERNING TAF SITES KTUL/KRVS/KBVO/KMLC/KXNA/KFYV/KFSM. MVFR VSBYS...BRIEF MVFR CIGS IN RA/TSRA WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MID MORNING ACROSS NE OK AND NW AR BEFORE THIS ACTIVITY DISSIPATES. SCATTERED DIURNAL CONVECTION IS AGAIN EXPECTED ACROSS SE OK AND WC AR...AND WILL CONFINE MENTION TO VCTS. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS POSSIBLE AGAIN LATE TONIGHT...AND WOULD IMPACT NE OK AND NW AR...WILL INCLUDE PROB30S AT THOSE SITES FROM 06Z THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE TAF PERIOD. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 311 AM CDT SUN JUL 21 2013/ DISCUSSION... THUNDERSTORM CLUSTER CONTINUES EARLY THIS MORNING ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA IN ASSOCIATION WITH UPPER DISTURBANCE/MCV DRIFTING OVER SOUTHEAST KANSAS. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE LIKELY IN THE STRONGER STORMS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALIZED FLOODING IN AREAS WHERE THUNDERSTORMS TRAIN OVER THE SAME LOCATIONS. ACTIVITY SHOULD SLOWLY WEAKEN THIS MORNING BUT COULD STILL SEE LINGERING PRECIP INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS. REGARDLESS...CLOUD COVER WILL LIKELY KEEP TEMPERATURES DOWN COMPARED TO THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS...ESPECIALLY ACROSS NE OK/NW AR. COULD ALSO SEE ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TONIGHT AS UPPER SPEED MAX MOVES INTO SOUTHERN MISSOURI. NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EARLY/MID PART OF THE WORK WEEK WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR MULTIPLE ROUNDS OF STORMS AS SEVERAL UPPER LEVEL IMPULSES TRAVERSE THE AREA. STRONGER UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM/COLD FRONT EXPECTED BY LATE WEEK WITH COOLER WEATHER IN NEXT WEEKEND. && .TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...NONE. AR...NONE. && AVIATION...23
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 450 AM CDT SUN JUL 21 2013 ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-221000- 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- 450 AM CDT SUN JUL 21 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...EASTERN OKLAHOMA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. ONSET...AFTERNOON. FLASH FLOOD. RISK...LIMITED. AREA...NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. ONSET...ONGOING. HEAVY RAIN. RISK...LIMITED. AREA...NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. ONSET...ONGOING. DISCUSSION... A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE CURRENTLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST KANSAS WILL DRIFT SLOWLY EAST THIS MORNING. AS A RESULT...SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL REMAIN ONGOING THIS MORNING...MAINLY ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. HEAVIER RAINFALL WITHIN THIS COMPLEX COMBINED WITH THE THE SLOW MOVEMENT WILL PRODUCE PERIODS OF HEAVY RAINFALL...MAINLY ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA. THIS WILL LEAD TO POTENTIAL FLASH FLOODING. STORM CHANCES WILL EXPAND SOUTH THIS AFTERNOON AS DAYTIME HEATING WILL RESULT IN SCATTERED STORMS IN AN UNCAPPED ENVIRONMENT. STORMS THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THESE AREAS MAY PRODUCE SEVERE WIND GUSTS. ADDITIONAL STORMS MAY DEVELOP TO THE NORTH TONIGHT AND AFFECT NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AS AN UPPER LEVEL WIND MAXIMUM MOVES INTO SOUTHERN MISSOURI. SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT... LOCAL SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL...DANGEROUS HEAT POTENTIAL. SATURDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. EXTENDED DISCUSSION... THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE UPCOMING WEEK AS THE AREA REMAINS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF NORTHWESTERLY UPPER FLOW. HIGHEST CHANCES WILL GENERALLY BE ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AS SEVERAL UPPER DISTURBANCES WITHIN THE UPPER FLOW AFFECT THOSE AREAS. HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST IN AREAS THAT REMAIN RAIN FREE. HOWEVER...COOLER WEATHER BEHIND AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT LATE IN THE WEEK IS ANTICIPATED ACROSS ALL OF THE AREA. WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
The Tulsa radar (KINX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:30 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several roads in and around town were flooded and were impassable. One vehicle stalled in two to three feet of water.
A few city streets were flooded and were impassable.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, July 2013
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: 469525, 468322.