Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 2, 1987Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 2, 1987, 4:42 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 63 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 2, 1987, 4:42 PM MST (23:42 UTC)
Expired
Aug 2, 1987, 5:45 PM MST
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pima 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 2, 5:00 PM MSTThunderstorm Wind 0Pima, 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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 84 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 1987-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 869 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1987-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 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
869 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-111 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1319 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
16 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 022342
SVRPHX
AZC019-030045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
442 PM MST SUN AUG 2 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA...NORTHEAST PIMA

AT 430 PM A VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER THE TUCSON
METROPOLITAN AREA PRODUCING WIND GUSTS TO 53 MPH AT THE TUCSON
AIRPORT. THIS STORM IS MOVING ACROSS THE TUCSON AREA AND IS LIKELY
TO PRODUCE WIND GUSTS LOCALLY IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH ACCOMPANIED BY
HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLY LARGE HAIL.

IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM..GO TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY
RAIN AND LIGHTNING.

THIS SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORM MAY CAUSE FLOODING OF WASHES...SMALL
STREAMS...UNDERPASSES AND HIGHWAY DIPS.

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 2, 4:11 PM MST, 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
415 PM MST SUN AUG 2 1987

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING IN EASTERN PIMA AND SANTA CRUZ
COUNTIES DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. RADAR INDICATES THESE STORMS ARE
MOVING NORTHWEST AT ABOUT 5 TO 10 MPH.  RADAR ALSO INDICATED THAT SOME
OF THESE STORMS WERE QUITE HEAVY.  SOME WILL PASS OVER THE GREATER
TUCSON AREA DURING THE NEXT TWO HOURS...WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY
RAINFALL WITH ATTENDANT LOCAL STREET FLOODING.
ELSEWHWERE IN PIMA COUNTY GREEN VALLEY...VAIL...ARIVACA AND PANTANO WILL
ALSO BE AFFECTED.
NOGALES...AMADO AND SONOITA IN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY ARE ALSO IN LINE OF A
FEW STRONG STORMS.
PERSONS SHOULD BE BE ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF WATER IN WASHES AND
OTHER FLOOD PRONE AREAS.  MOTORISTS AND PERSONS ENGAGED IN OUTDOOR
ACTIVITIES ARE ADVISED TO USE CAUTION.

FURTHER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS NEEDED.
BARTOLOME  NWS

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.