Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 29, 1986Cochise County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 29, 1986, 3:45 PM MST for Cochise County, Arizona. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 29, 1986, 3:45 PM MST (22:45 UTC)
Expired
Aug 29, 1986, 4:45 PM MST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Cochise 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 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 113 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 12:00Z on 1986-08-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 317 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 12:00Z on 1986-08-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 20 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
317 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-44 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1288 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-2 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 KTUS 292250
FFWTUS
AZC003-292345-

BULLETIN...EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
345 PM MST FRI AUG 29 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD
WARNING UNTIL 445 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA..COCHISE

AT 335 PM THE TUCSON WEATHER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS
OVER SOUTHERN COCHISE COUNTY.  A WEATHER OBSERVER IN BISBEE REPORTED
HEAVY RAIN IN THE BISBEE AREA.  ALL WASHES ARE RUNNING FULL AND FLASH
FLOODING IS AGAIN TAKING PLACE IN THE DOWNTOWN PORTION OF BISBEE.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING HAS ALREADY OCCURRED OR IS
IMMINENT.  PEOPLE IN THE AFFECTED AREA SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
FLOODING AND BE PREPARED TO ESCAPE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
IMES 292245Z

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, 11:19 AM MST, 4 hours 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1110 AM MST FRI AUG 29 1986

AT 11 AM THE TUCSON WEATHER RADAR WAS INDICATING A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING
THUNDERSTORM ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF AJO.  THIS THUNDERSTORM
HAS THE POTENTIAL OF HEAVY RAINFALL CAUSING LOCAL FLOODING OF WASHES..
HIGHWAY DIPS AND OTHER FLOOD PRONE AREAS.  AT THE PRESENT TIME THERE
IS NO APPARENT MOVEMENT TO THE STORM BUT UPPER WIND FLOW DOES
INDICATE THERE IS A GOO PROBABILITY THAT MOVEMENT WILL BE TOWARD THE
NORTHEAST AND INTO THE AJO AREA.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH REDUCED VISIBILITIES AND THE POSSIBILITY
OF HAIL ALSO EXISTS WITH THIS STORM.

PERSONS IN THE AREA SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION OF PROTECT
SELVES AND THEIR PROPERTY.

FURTHER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED IS NECESSARY.
END NWS TUS
Special weather statement, Aug 29, 1:45 PM MST, 2 hours before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
145 PM MST FRI AUG 29 1986

AT 130 PM THE TUCSON WEATHER RADAR WAS INDICATING A RAPID INCREASE OF
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE COUNTIES OF PIMA..SANTA CRUZ AND COCHISE. THESE
STORMS ARE MOVING VERY SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHEAST.  WITH THIS SLOW
MOVEMENT FLOODING OF DIPS AND WASHES AND OTHER FLOOD PRONE AREAS IS
LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON WITH THE HEAVIER STORMS.  AT 130 PM VERY HEAVY
THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED BETWEEN TUCSON AND AJO AND MOST OF WESTERN
COCHISE COUNTY INCLUDING THE SIERRA VISTA..TOMBSTONE..BENSON AND
WILLCOX AREAS.  STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL ARE ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THE
HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS.

PLEASE RESPECT POLICE BARRICADES..THEY AmRE THERE FOR YOUR PROTECTION.

FURTHER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED IS NECESSARY.

END NWS TUS

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.