Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987
Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 22, 1987, 5:53 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 67 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 22, 1987, 5:53 PM MST (00:53 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 22, 1987, 7:00 PM MST
- In force
- 67 min
- 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, 0.9 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 639 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -35 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2443 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 14 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 7 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 77 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 230053 FFWPHX AZC013-230200- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX ARIZONA 553 PM MST TUE SEP 22 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM MST AND A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY... IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA ...NORTHEASTERN MARICOPA A VERY LARGE...INTENSE THUNDERSTORM THAT STARTED IN WESTERN PINAL COUNTY HAS SPREAD INTO THE GREATER PHOENIX AREA...IN EASTERN MARICOPA COUNTY. VERY HEAVY RAIN AND WINDS ESTIMATED AT 50 MPH HAVE MOVED INTO THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF THE CITY...NEAR CHANDLER...AND SHOULD MOVE NORTH OVER MESA...TEMPE...SCOTTSDALE AND MUCH OF PHOENIX IN THE NEXT HOUR. WIND DAMAGE AND INTENSE LIGHTNING AS WELL AS MAJOR STREET FLOODING MAY OCCUR. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. 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, Sep 22, 2:51 PM MST, 3 hours 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 300 PM MST TUE SEP 22 1987 THUNDERSTORMS AND SHOWERS HAVE BEEN SCATTERED OVER SOUTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARIZONA THROUGHOUT THE DAY. THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS INDICATED BY RADAR...SATELLITE AND BY REPORTS FROM OBSERVERS HAVE BEEN IN THE LATE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON. WICKENBURG WAS HIT BY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN BEFORE 1 PM. A REPORT OF ABOUT ONE QUARTER INCH OF R,AIN CAME FROM MESA AROUND 11 AM. RADAR AND SATELLITE INDICATED THE HEAVIEST STORMS AS OF 3 PM WERE IN SOUTHWEST ARIZONA FROM SOUTH OF TUCSON TO WESTERN MARICOPA AND WESTERN YAVAPAI COUNTIES. BJOREM
Special weather statement, Sep 22, 4:00 PM MST, 1 hour 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 400 PM MST TUE SEP 22 1987 ...INCREASING THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IN THE DESERTS... SINCE 3 PM...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY HAS INCREASED RAPIDLY OVER THE DESERTS WEST OF TUCSON AND SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF PHOENIX. SO FAR THERE HAVE BEEN NO INDICATIONS OF HEAVY RAIN OR DAMAGING WINDS. BUT LIGHTNING DETECTORS SHOW AN UNUSUAL NUMBER OF LIGHTNING STRIKES ...MUCH AS THEY DID LAST EVENING. RADAR SHOWS THE SHOWERS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH AROUND 20 TO 25 MPH. THIS GIVES PHOENIX A GOOD CHANCE FOR A THUNDERSTORM THIS EVENING ...ESPECIALLY THE WEST SIDE OF THE CITY. RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC COULD ENCOUNTER STRONG WINDS AND BLOWING DUST...FOLLOWED BY BRIEF HEAVY SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL. SOME MINOR STREET FLOODING COULD OCCUR. ELSEWHERE AROUND ARIZONA...AT LEAST SOME THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING IN JUST ABOUT ALL PARTS OF THE STATE. BUT OUTSIDE THE DESERT REGION ...THEY HAVE BEEN RELATIpVELY SMALL AND WIDELY SCATTERED. ONCE AGAIN...THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD REACH A PEAK AROUND SUNSET AND THEN GRADUALLY DIMINISH DURING THE NIGHT. BUT SOME COULD LINGER THRU MOST MOST OF THE NIGHT...ESPECIALLY IN WESTERN ARIZONA. TENHARKEL
Special weather statement, Sep 22, 4:55 PM MST, 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE YUMA AZ 455 PM MST TUE SEP 22 1987 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING IN YUMA COUNTY... AT 445 THE STORMS WERE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING IN YUMA COUNTY...MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST NEAR 20 MPH. HEAVY SHOWERS...HALF INCH HAIL...AND WINDS GUSTING NEAR 40 MPH HAVE BEEN REPORTED. THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING AND AFTER MIDNIGHT IN YUMA AND LAPAZ COUNTIES. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT THREAT WILL BE STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND RUNNING WATER IN NORMALLY DRY WASHES. MOTORISTS SHOULD DRIVE WITH CAUTION...AND BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS. MATHESON
The office that day
Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 22, 5:13 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Maricopa | 47 min |
| Sep 22, 5:53 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Maricopa | 67 min |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1987Every flash flood warning in 1987
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.