Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 11, 1986Maricopa County, Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 11, 1986, 5:05 PM MST for Maricopa County, Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 11, 1986, 5:05 PM MST (00:05 UTC)
Expired
Aug 11, 1986, 6:00 PM MST
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

Counties Maricopa County, AZ, Pinal 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, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 143 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 1986-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 632 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 1986-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 7 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
632 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-70 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1952 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Aug 11, 1:27 PM MST, 3 hours 38 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
130 PM MST MON AUG 11 1986

AT 130 PM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AND SATELLITE PHOTOS
INDICATED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL
DEVELOPING IN ARIZONA MAINLY OVER THE NORTHWEST QUARTER OF THE STATE.

CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR MANY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OVER
ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. MOVEMENT IS EXPECTED TO BE FROM
THE SOUTHEAST TOWARD THE NORTHWEST AT 10 TO 15 MILES PER HOUR IN
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA WITH LITTLE OR SLOW MOVEMENT ELSEWHERE.

IF YOU ARE ENGAGED IN ANY OUTDOOR ACTIVITY IN ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING...YOU ARE URGED TO KEEP A WARY EYE OUT ON THE THUNDERSTORMS.
STRONG GUSTY WINDS...VERY HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
ARE ASSOCIATED WITH SOME OF THE STORMS. HEAVY RAIN MAY CAUSE FLOODING
OF HIGHWAY DIPS...DESERT WASHES AND SOME CITY STREETS.

IF YOU ARE BOATING ON ANY OF THE LAKES...BE ALERT FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS
AND HEAD TO SHORE IF THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH YOUR AREA.

IF YOU ARE DRIVING IN THE DESERT AREAS...BE PREPARED FOR AREAS OF
DENSE BLOWING DUST NEAR THUNDERSTORMS. IF YOU ENCOUNTER RESTRICTED
VISIBILITIES...PULL OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD...TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF
THE BREAK AND TURN YOUR LIGHTS ALL THE WAY OFF.

LISTEN TO YOUR RADIO...TV OR WEATHER RADIO FOR UPDATING STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

ELLIS
Special weather statement, Aug 11, 2:58 PM MST, 2 hours 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
250 PM MST MON AUG 11 1986

AT 245 PM MST...RADAR AND SATELLITE PHOTOS INDICATED SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL IN SOUTHEAST AND
SOUTHCENTRAL MOHAVE COUNTY..AS WELL AS FAR WESTERN YAVAPAI COUNTY.
THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS AT 245 PM WERE NEAR THE CITIES OF KINGMAN
..WIKIEUP..PEACH SPRINGS..SIGNAL..YARNELL..BAGDAD..AND HACKBERRY.

REPORTS FROM KINGMAN AND WIKIEUP INDICATE THAT SOME OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING STRONG WINDS..SMALL HAIL..AND BRIEF HEAVY
RAINFALL.

IF YOU ARE ENGAGED IN ANY OUTDOOR ACTIVITY IN THIS PORTION OF ARIZONA
THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THIS EVENING...YOU ARE
URGED TO BE ON THE ALERT FOR THE SUDDEN ONSET OF POTENTIALLY HEAVY
THUNDERSTORMS. STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING CAN BE ASSOCIATED WITH SOME OF THESE STORMS. ADDITIONALLY..
HEAVY RAIN MAY CAUSE FLOODING OF HIGHWAY DIPS...DESERT WASHES AND SOME
CITY STREETS.

IF YOU ARE DRIVING IN THE DESERT AREAS...BE PREPARED FOR AREAS OF
DENSE BLOWING DUST NEAR THUNDERSTORMS. IF YOU ENCOUNTER RESTRICTED
VISIBILITIES...PULL OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD...TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF
THE BREAK AND TURN YOUR LIGHTS ALL THE WAY OFF.

LISTEN TO YOUR RADIO...TV OR WEATHER RADIO FOR UPDATING STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

BRENNER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 11, 5:05 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal55 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.