Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 29, 1986Gila County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 29, 1986, 6:00 PM MST for Gila County, Arizona. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 29, 1986, 6:00 PM MST (01:00 UTC)
Expired
Aug 29, 1986, 8:00 PM MST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Gila 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

Winslow (Autob), AZ (KINW), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 136 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, Winslow (Autob), AZ at 00:00Z on 1986-08-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 121 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, Winslow (Autob), AZ at 00:00Z on 1986-08-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -10 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
121 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-44 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1869 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
5 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 300106 COR
FFWPHX
AZC007-300300-

BULLETIN...EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING BULLETIN...CORRECTION...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
600 PM MST FRI AUG 29 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A FLASH
FLOOD WARNING UNTIL 800 PM MST FRIDAY FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTY OF

CENTRAL ARIZONA..GILA

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS FOR NORTHERN GILA COUNTY.. INCLUDING PAYSON
AND THE AREA EAST TO CHRISTOPHER CREEK AND SOUTH OF PAYSON TO PUNKIN
CENTER AND SUNFLOWER.

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING SOUTH OFF THE MOGOLLON RIM HAS CAUSED
TORRENTIAL RAINS AND HAIL AT PSYSON.. CAUSING CONSIDERABLLE FLOODING
IN NORMALLY DRY WASHES IN TOWN. PHOENIX RADAR INDICATES HEAVY RAINS
EXTEND OVER MUCH OF NORTHERN GILA COUNTY AND ARE SPREADING SOUTHWARD.

PERSONS IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD MOVE TO HIGH GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
STAY OUT OF WASHES AND CANYONS IN THE AREA. CAMPERS AND PICNICERS MAKE
SURE YOU ARE PARKED ON HIGH GROUcND.. WELL AWAY FROM ANY STREAM OR
WASH.

TENHARKEL

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 29, 1:18 PM MST, 4 hours 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
115 PM MST FRI AUG 29 1986

..THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ONCE AGAIN DEVELOPING ACROSS ARIZONA...

VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR CONTINUES ACROSS ARIZONA TODAY..AND AT
THE NOON HOUR WIDELY SCATTERED LOCALLY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE
DEVELOPING ACROSS MUCH OF THE STATE.

AT 1 PM RADAR SHOWED THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE BETWEEN MIAMI
AND SUPERIOR AND IN THE NORTHEAST NEAR CANYON DE CHELLY.

THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING ACROSS THE STATE THIS AFTERNOON
IS VERY HIGH. THE GROUND IS SATURATED FROM RECENT HEAVY RAINFALL AND
ANY ADDITIONAL RAIN WILL LIKELY RUN OFF.

PERSONS PLANNING TO TRAVEL OR OTHER OUTDOOR ACTIVITY THIS AFTERNOON
AND cEVENING CAN EXPECT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS..SOME OF STORMS WILL
LIKEY BE VIOLENT..WITH HEAVY RAINS..LOCALIZED FLOODING AND STRONG WINDS.

DGS 29/2016Z

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 29, 10:25 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRPinal95 min
Aug 29, 10:25 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRPinal95 min
Aug 29, 10:55 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa65 min
Aug 29, 10:55 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa65 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.