Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 29, 1987Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 29, 1987, 3:34 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 56 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
Aug 29, 1987, 3:34 PM MST (22:34 UTC)
Expired
Aug 29, 1987, 4:30 PM MST
In force
56 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 29, 3:35 PM MSTTornado F0Maricopa, 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, 10.6 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 1987-08-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 449 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 1987-08-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 5 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 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
449 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-119 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2042 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
17 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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, Aug 29, 1:35 PM MST, 1 hour 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
130 PM MST SAT AUG 29 1987

      ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE FAR NORTHERN
              PORTIONS OF THE PHOENIX AREA...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING OVER THE FAR NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE
PHOENIX AREA.  AT 1PM SATELLITE PICTURES AND WEATHER RADAR INDICATED
THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING AROUND DEER VALLEY...CAVE CREEK AND
OVER THE SALT RIVER LAKES.

IN GENERAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORMING ALL ALONG THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN
MOUNTAINS SURROUNDING THE PHOENIX AREA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NEARLY STATIONARY OR ARE MOVING SLOWLY
SOUTHWARD AND WILL EVENTUALLY MOVE INTO PARTS OF THE PHOENIX AREA
LATER IN THE DAY.
<
THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG WINDS
AND AREAS OF BLOWING DUST.

THOSE RECREATIONALISTS ON THE LAKES SHOULD CONTINUALLY MONITOR THE
DEVELOPING STORMS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER FROM STRONG WINDS
AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING.
S

VASQUEZ

The office that day

Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 29, 2:35 PM MSTTornado WarningPSRMaricopa55 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.