Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this tornado warning at Aug 29, 1987, 2:35 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 55 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, 2:35 PM MST (21:35 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 29, 1987, 3:30 PM MST
- In force
- 55 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29, 3:35 PM MST | Tornado F0 | 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 12:00Z, 9.6 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KPHX 292130
TORPHX
AZC013-292230-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX ARIZONA
235 PM MST SAT AUG 29 1987
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 330 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
...NORTH CENTRAL MARICOPA COUNTY
AT 220 PM SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUDS FROM LARGE THUNDERSTORMS WERE SIGHTED
OVER IN THE VICINTY OF DEER VALLEY AIRPORT MOVING SOUTH. THE FUNNELS
HAVE NOT TOUCHED THE GROUND HOWEVER SEVERAL SHEDS OR SMALL BUILDINGS
DIRECTLY UNDER THE FUNNELS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED.
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...SEEK SHELTER IN THE
INNERMOST PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET TO
A BASEMENT IF ONE IS AVAILABLE. AVOID WINDyOWS AND PROTECT YOUR
BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 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
VASQUEZThe office that day
Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29, 3:34 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Maricopa | 56 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Arizona, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes 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.