Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1986
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this tornado warning at Nov 18, 1986, 3:45 PM MST for Gila County, Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 75 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 18, 1986, 3:45 PM MST (22:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 18, 1986, 5:00 PM MST
- In force
- 75 min
- Issued by
- NWS Phoenix, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Gila 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 18, 4:30 PM MST | Tornado F0 | Pinal, AZ |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 132 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1053 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 36 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 63 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KPHX 182247 COR TORPHX AZC007-021-190000- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 345 PM MST TUE NOV 18 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF CENTRAL ARIZONA..EASTERN PINAL..SOUTHERN GILA THE WARNING INCLUDES PINAL COUNTY FROM THE FLORENCE AREA EASTWARD AND SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY FROM GLOBE SOUTHWARD. AROUND 330 PM THERE WERE SEVERAL REPORTS OF A TORNADO IN OPEN COUNTRY NORTH OF ELOY. THE STORM WAS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH AND AT 345 PM.. PHOENIX RADAR HAD IT CENTERED ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FLORENCE. THERE WAS NO WAY TO DETERMINE IF IT STILL CONTAINED A TORNADO AT THAT TIME.. BUT RADAR DID INDICATE A VERY STRONG STORM WHICH MAY CAUSE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL EVEN IF THE TORNADO IS NO LONGER PRESENT. PERSONS IN EASTERN PINAL AND SOUTHERN GILA COUNTIES SHOULD WATCH THE WjEATHER AND BE READY TO TAKE SHELTER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES. PLEASE ASK THE POLICE OR SHERRIFF TO RELAY YOUR SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE WEATHER SERVICE. TENHARKEL
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Nov 18, 3:23 PM MST, 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 325 PM MST TUE NOV 18 1986 ...HEAVY SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS WEST OF PHOENIX... HEAVY SHOWERS DEVELOPED OVER THE DESERTS WEST OF PHOENIX IN THE MIDAFTERNOON. SOME RAINFALL REPORTS RECEIVED UP TO 3.15 PM INCLUDED NEARLY ONE INCH IN LESS THAN AN HOUR NINE MILES SOUTH OF AGUILA AND NEARLY ONE HALF INCH IN TEN MINUTES 15 MILES WEST OF WICKENBURG. THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY REPORTED HEAVY RAIN WEST OF BUCKEYE REDUCING VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN 100 FEET AT ABOUT 3 PM. THESE SHOWERS APPEAR TO BE BRIEF AND ONLY MINOR STREET FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED. THE SHOWERS ARE ALSO MOVING EAST AND POSE A THREAT TO THE PHOENIX AREA DURING UTHE EVENING. BJOREM 18/2223Z
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Arizona, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.