Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 10, NWS Phoenix, AZ

October 11, 1986Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Oct 11, 1986, 7:40 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 80 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 11, 1986, 7:40 PM MST (02:40 UTC)
Expired
Oct 11, 1986, 9:00 PM MST
In force
80 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Maricopa County, AZ

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 198 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1986-10-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 87 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1986-10-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 44 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
87 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1917 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KPHX 120243
FFWPHX
AZC013-120400-

BULLETIN...EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING BULLETIN
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
740 PM MST SAT OCT 11 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A FLASH
FLOOD WARNING UNTIL 900 PM MST SATURDAY FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTY..

CENTRAL ARIZONA..EXTREME NORTHEAST MARICOPA

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS FOR EXTREME NORTHEAST MARICOPA COUNTY...
INCLUDING THE GREATER PHOENIX METROPOLITAN AREA.

AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST THROUGH
THE WARNING AREA..AND CAUSING HEAVY RAINFALL WITH FLOODING OF
HIGHWAYS..STREETS..WASHES..AND LOW AREAS. THE STORMS WILL PERSIST
IN THE  WARNING AREA FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT HOUR AND A HALF.
<
PERSONS IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD MOVE TO HIGH GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
STAY OUT OF WASHES AND CANYONS IN THE AREA. MOTORISTS OUT AND ABOUT
THIS EVENING ARE URGED TO USE CAUTION AND NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS.

FRANJEVIC
MWF 10/12/0243Z

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 11, 2:16 PM MST, 5 hours 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
2 PM MST SAT OCT 11 1986

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN SOUTH CENTRAL
YAVAPAI COUNTY. AUTOMATIC RAINGAGE STATIONS HAVE INDICATED MODERATE
TO HEAVY RAINFALL IN SOUTH CENTRAL YAVAPAI COUNTY DURING THE PAST
HOUR. RAINFALL AMOUNTS FROM ONE HALF TO THREE FOURTHS OF AN INCH
HAS OCCURRED IN THE MT.UNION...MAYER..DUGAS AREA..LOCATED JUST NORTH
OF CORDES JUNCTION.

RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW A LINE OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS IN THAT AREA. THIS LINE IS OCCURRING JUST AHEAD OF A
COLD FRONT OVER NORTHERN ARIZONA.

PERSONS TRAVELING IN THAT AREA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE ROAD
FLOODING...ESPECIALLY ALONG HIGHWAY 69 FROM CORDES JUNCTON TO
PRESCOTT...AND IN LOW SPOTS ALONG INTERSTATE 17 NORTH OF CORDES
JUNCTION. PERSONS SHOULD ALSO STAY AWAY FROM WASHES IN THE AREA
AS FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE.
<
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD KEEP CURRENT ON THE LATEST WEATHER
BROADCAST.

BERKOVITZ
Special weather statement, Oct 11, 6:27 PM MST, 1 hour 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
620 PM MST SAT OCT 11 1986

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS..WITH HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL IN CENTRAL ARIZONA...

AT 610 PM MST..SATELLITE PHOTOS AND RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL ARIZONA. THE STORMS WERE BEING ACCOMPANIED
BY ONE HALF INCH HAIL..AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. ALSO..AUTOMATIC RAIN
GAGES IN NORTHERN MARICOPA AND SOUTHERN YAVAPAI COUNTIES HAVE ALREADY
RECORDED MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL.

ONE GAGE NEAR MORRISTOWN REPORTED NEARLY THREE TENTHS OF AN INCH OF
RAIN IN ABOUT A HALF HOUR. GAGES NEAR NEW RIVER..CAVE CREEK..AND
CAREFREE REPORTED SIMILAR AMOUNTS IN A SHORT TIME. THE THUNDERSTORMS..
HEAVY SHOWERS..HAIL..AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST
IN MUCH OF CENTRAL ARIZONA..AT LEAST FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

PERSONS TRAVELING IN CENTRAL ARIZONA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE
FLOODING OF ROADWAYS..SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS..WASHES..AND LOW
AREAzS. PERSONS PLANNING ON BEING OUT AND ABOUT IN CENTRAL ARIZONA
THIS EVENING ARE URGED TO KEEP IN TOUCH FOR THE LATEST WEATHER
FORECASTS..AND POSSIBLE WEATHER BULLETINS.

FRANJEVIC
MWF 10/12/0127Z

The office that day

Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 11, 8:55 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal95 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1986Every flash flood warning in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.