Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 27, 1986Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 27, 1986, 6:30 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 27, 1986, 6:30 PM MST (01:30 UTC)
Expired
Aug 27, 1986, 9:00 PM MST
In force
3 hr
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, 1.5 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 1986-08-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 224 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 1986-08-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 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
224 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-76 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1607 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
56 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 280139
FFWPHX
AZC013-280400-

BULLETIN...EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
630 PM MST WED AUG 27 1986

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

CENTRAL ARIZONA..MARICOPA

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS FOR EXTREME NORTHWEST MARICOPA COUNTY AND
INCLUDES THE AREA ALONG AND SOUTH OF U.S. HIGHWAY 70 FROM WICKENBURG
TO AGUILA.. SOUTH TO THE NORTH SIDE OF THE CENTRAL ARIZONA PROJECT
CANAL IN THE HARQUAHALA VALLEY. THE COUNTY ROADS SOUTH FROM AGUILA
AND SOUTH OF WICKENBURG THROUGH THE VULTURE MOUNTAINS ARE IN THE WARNING
AREA.

RADAR AT PHOENIX HAS BEEN SHOWING VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE
VULTURE MOUNTAINS AND THE EAST END OF THE HARQUAHALA MOUNTAINS FOR THE
LAST HOUR. THESE STORMS WERE ALMOST STATIONARY.. AND CONTINUED TO
INTENSIFY. IN VIEW OF THE HEAVY RAINS ALREADY OBSERVED TODAY IN
MUCH SHORTER PERIODS OF TIME.. THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY HAVE DUMPED
3 OR 4 INCHES OF RAIN ALREADY. THIS IS ENOUGH TO CAUSE VERY DANGEROUS
AND DESTRUCTIVE FLASH FLOODING IN DESERT WASHES DRAINING OUT OF
THESE MOUNTAINS.

MOTORISTS SHOULD STAY OUT OF THIS AREA TONIGHT. STAY ON HIGHWAY 70
OR INTERSTATE 10.. OR IF ALREADY ON THE UNPAVED ROADS IN THE WARNING
AREA.. FIND A PLACE TO PARK ON HIGH GROUND. DO NOT TRY TO CROSS ANY
FLOODED DIPS OR WASHES.

PERSONS IN WICKENBURG OR AGUILA LIVING ALONG WASHES THAT DRAIN FROM
THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SOUTH SHOULD CONSIDER MOVING TO HIGH GROUND.
FLASH FLOODS COULD APPEAR SUDDENLY IN ANY OF THESE WASHES AT ANY TIME
TONIGHT.

PLEASE REPORT ANY FLASH FLOODING TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY SO IT CAN BE RELAYED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

TENHARKEL

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.