Very persistent and occasionally heavy rainfall occurred from the evening of the 9th through the morning of the 10th across the headwaters of the Illinois River. This heavy rainfall resulted in moderate flooding of the Illinois River near Tahlequah.
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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.
Very persistent and occasionally heavy rainfall occurred from the evening of the 9th through the morning of the 10th across the headwaters of the Illinois River. This heavy rainfall resulted in moderate flooding of the Illinois River near Tahlequah.
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 10, 8:36 PM CST, 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 936 PM CDT FRI MAY 10 2013 ...UPDATE... .DISCUSSION... CONDITIONS LOOK GOOD FOR FOG DEVELOPMENT OVERNIGHT GIVEN CURRENT T/TD SPREADS ESPECIALLY FOR LOCATIONS HAVING RECEIVED RECENT RAINS. THE LARGEST UNCERTAINTY IS THE EXPANSIVE CIRRUS SHIELD SPREADING NORTHWARD OUT OF TX. THE THICKER CLOUD COVER SHOULD REMAIN SOUTH...WITH LESSER AMOUNT AND DURATION FOR NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. THUS WILL EXPAND MENTION OF FOG OVERNIGHT. WILL MAINTAIN FORECAST LOW TEMPS...AND SHOULD THEY BE REALIZED...THEN LOCALLY DENSE FOG IS POSSIBLE. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TUL 52 76 44 69 / 0 30 0 20 FSM 54 77 46 72 / 0 20 10 0 MLC 53 76 47 73 / 0 10 0 0 BVO 48 74 41 67 / 0 30 0 40 FYV 48 71 41 67 / 0 20 10 20 BYV 48 71 40 66 / 0 20 10 20 MKO 52 75 45 70 / 0 20 10 10 MIO 48 73 41 66 / 0 30 0 40 F10 52 75 46 71 / 0 20 10 0 HHW 57 77 50 74 / 0 0 0 0 && .TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...NONE. AR...NONE. && SHORT TERM...07
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 954 PM CDT FRI MAY 10 2013 ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-111000- 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- 954 PM CDT FRI MAY 10 2013 THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. POOR VISIBILITY. RISK...LIMITED. AREA...GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 40. ONSET...AFTER MIDNIGHT. DISCUSSION... AREAS OF FOG ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATER TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY FOR LOCATIONS THAT HAVE RECEIVED RECENT RAINFALL. LOCALLY DENSE FOG IS POSSIBLE PRIMARILY ACROSS FAR NORTHWEST ARKANSAS...AND PORTIONS OF FAR NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR RAPID CHANGES IN VISIBILITY. SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION NOT EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. MONDAY...NO HAZARDS. TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. EXTENDED DISCUSSION... ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ACCOMPANY A STRONGER COLD FRONT WHICH WILL PASS THROUGH THE AREA LATE SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY. COOL AND DRY WEATHER WILL PREVAIL FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH THUNDERSTORM CHANCES AND WARMER TEMPERATURES RETURNING FOR MID TO LATE NEXT WEEK. WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Illinois River near Tahlequah rose above its flood stage of 11 feet at 10:00 pm CDT on May 10th. The river crested at 15.11 feet at 7:00 pm CDT on the 11th, resulting in moderate flooding. The river fell below flood stage at 2:00 am CDT on the 12th.
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, May 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: 451257.