Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Phoenix, AZ

May 14, 1987Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 14, 1987, 3:45 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 75 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 14, 1987, 3:45 PM MST (22:45 UTC)
Expired
May 14, 1987, 5:00 PM MST
In force
75 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 12:00Z, 10.8 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tuscon, AZ at 12:00Z on 1987-05-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1987-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2353 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
38 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 142245
SVRPHX
AZC013-150045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX ARIZONA
345 PM MST THU MAY 14 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
          ...EASTERN MARICOPA
 
A LARGE INTENSE THUNDERSTORM OVER THE MOUNTAINS NORTH OF PHOENIX IS
MOVING SOUTHWARD TOWARD THE CITY. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL REPORTS OF
HAIL...STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN...AND AT LEAST ONE REPORT OF A
SMALL FUNNEL CLOUD.
 
THE STORM IS MOVING SOUTH AROUND 10 MPH AND A DUST STORM IS
DEVELOPING AHEAD OF IT. THE DUST SHOULD MOVE THROUGH THE METROPOLITAN
AREA BEFORE 430 PM...FOLLOWED BY VERY STRONG...POSSIBLY DAMAGING
WINDS. THE THUNDERSTORM WILL FOLLOW THE DUST AND MAY ONLY REACH A
PORTION OF THE CITY. BUT IT IS CAPABLE OF CAUSING LARGE HAIL AND
ENOUGH RAIN FOR CONSIDERABLE STREET FLOODING.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
 
TENHARKEL

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, May 14, 3:00 PM MST, 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
300 PM MST THU MAY 14 1987

        ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER ARIZONA...

SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING THROUGHOUT
THE DAY OVER ARIZONA.  AT 3 PM SATELLITE PICTURES SHOWED MOST OF THE
ACTIVITY WAS LOCATED OVER THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE STATE FROM THE
WHITE MOUNTAINS AND MOGOLLON RIM NORTHWARD TO THE UTAH BORDER.

THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO DEVELOPING OVER THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PART
OF THE STATE AND BY THIS EVENING SHOULD BE NUMEROUS IN COVERAGE.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ALSO RECIEVED SEVERAL REPORTS OF HAIL..
STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN.  SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING ARE EXPECTED TO BE VERY HEAVY AND PERSON THROUGHOUT THE
STATE SHOULD BE ALERT FOR WEATHER DEVELOPING IN YOUR AREA.  THUNDERSTORM
AGAIN COULD CAUSE STRONG DAMAGING WINDS..HAIL..HEAVY BLINDING RAIN..DENSE
BLOWING DUST ON THE DESERTS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  IN ADDITION PERSONS
ENCOUNTERING BAD WEATHER SHOULD TAKE SHELTER AND WAIT OUT THE STORM.

VASQUEZ

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.