Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 10, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 22, 1987, 5:13 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 47 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
- Sep 22, 1987, 5:13 PM MST (00:13 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 22, 1987, 6:00 PM MST
- In force
- 47 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 22, 5:45 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Maricopa, 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 00:00Z, 0.2 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
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, 2 hours 22 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 13 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, 18 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, 5:53 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | PSR | Maricopa | 67 min |
| Sep 22, 5:53 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Maricopa | 67 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1987Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.