Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 16, 1989Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 16, 1989, 5:10 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 1989, 5:10 PM MST (00:10 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1989, 7:30 PM MST
In force
2 hr
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.

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 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 00:00Z on 1989-08-17Temperature 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 00:00Z on 1989-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 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
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
89 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 KTUS 170021 COR
FFWTUS
AZC019-170230-

BULLETIN...EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
510 PM MST WED AUG 16 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD
WARNING UNTIL 730 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA..NORTHEAST PIMA

AT 505 PM AUTOMATIC RAIN GUAGES AT THE HEADWATERS OF THE TANQUE VERDE
CREEK HAD REGISTERED TWO AND A HALF INCHES OF RAIN IN THE LAST HOUR.
IT IS LIKELY THAT FLOODING IS OCCURING ALONG THE TANQUE VERDE AND WILL
CONTINUE DOWN STREAM UNTIL IT JOINS THE AGUA CALIENTE WASH.  PERSONS
IN THIS AREA SHOULD SEEK HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING HAS ALREADY OCCURRExD OR IS
IMMINENT.  PEOPLE IN THE AFFECTED AREA SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
RISING WATER.
$$
NORDQUIST 16/0010Z

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 16, 12:29 PM MST, 4 hours 41 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1230 PM MST WED AUG 16 1989

AT 1220 PM RADAR OBSERVATIONS INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING
IN EASTERN SANTA CRUZ AND COCHISE COUNTIES. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE
LOCATED JUST SOUTHWEST OF SIERRA VISTA IN EASTERN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
...AFFECTING THE SONOITA AND PATAGONIA AREAS. THESE STORMS MAY ALSO
AFFECT THE NOGALES AREA IN THE NEXT 1 TO 2 HOURS. ANOTHER GROUP OF
THUNDERSTORMS IS LOCATED NORTHEAST OF DOUGLAS. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE
MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 5 TO 10 MPH.

PEPOLE IN THE COMMUNITIES OF PATAGONIA...SONOITA...DOUGLAS AND NOGALES
SHOULD KEEP ABREAST OF THE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO
SECURE PERSONAL SAFETY AND PROPERTY.

.REMEMBER...THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS...FLASH FLOODING OF
LOW-LYING AREAS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
>

ROBINSON/IMES
Special weather statement, Aug 16, 2:43 PM MST, 2 hours 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
240 PM MST WED AUG 16 1989

AT 230 PM RADAR OBSERVATIONS INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE
OVER SANTA CRUZ AND COCHISE COUNTIES. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING
WEST VERY SLOWLY. THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF ARIVACA
ALONG I-19. ANOTHER STRONG STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR TOMBSTONE.

PEPOLE IN THE COMMUNITIES ALONG I-19 FROM GREEN VALLEY TO NOGALES AND
MOTORISTS ALONG I-19 AS WELL AS TOMBSTONE AND FORT HUACHUCA...STAY
ABREAST OF WEATHER CONDITIONS AND TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS TO SECURE
PERSONAL SAFETY AND PROPERTY.

.REMEMBER...THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS...FLASH FLOODING OF
LOW-LYING AREAS...STRONG GUSTY W"INDS...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
>
NORDQUIST

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1989Every flash flood warning in 1989

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.