Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 28, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 5, 1990Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 5, 1990, 5:24 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 111 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 5, 1990, 5:24 PM MST (00:24 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 1990, 7:15 PM MST
In force
111 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pinal 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, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 92 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 1990-08-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 622 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 00:00Z on 1990-08-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 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
622 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2455 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
2 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 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 5, 2:29 PM MST, 2 hours 55 minutes before
AZZALL-052300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
230 PM MST SUN AUG 5 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND MOVING WESTWARD...

AT 2 PM THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP ALONG THE RIM AND OVER
THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. SOME OF THE STRONGEST STORMS...ACCORDING TO THE
PHOENIX RADAR...WERE ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FLAGSTAFF...BETWEEN
HAPPY JACK AND CAMP VERDE...NEAR PAYSON...AND NEAR WHITERIVER.
THE STORMS WERE ALL MOVING GENERALLY TO THE WEST AT 15 MPH.

THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO REPORTED BY PILOTS OVER NORTHEAST ARIZONA
NEAR CHINLE. AN ISOLATED CELL WAS ALSO WEST OF PRESCOTT.

STRONG WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS... MORE LIKELY AFTER
ABOUT 4 PM AS CELLS MERGE...ACCELERATE AND PROPAGATE TO THE WEST.
IF THREATENING WEATHER MOVES IN...SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
SS..
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 3:37 PM MST, 1 hour 47 minutes before
AZZALL-052330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
330 PM MST SUN AUG 5 1990

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORSMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WINDS OVER THE
CENTRAL ARIZONA MOUNTAINS...

AT 315 PM WEATHER RADAR DETECTED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE
MOUNTAINS BETWEEN PRESCOTT...EASTWARD THROUGH PAYSON...AND SOUTHEAST
TO FORT APACHE OR NORTHEAST OF GLOBE.

RADAR SHOWED THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN AND
PERHAPS STRONG WINDS AS WELL.  RAINFALL RATES WERE ON THE ORDER OF
1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR WHICH MAY LEAD TO FLOODING OF WASHES AND
ROADWAY DIPS.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE NUMEROUS LATER THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  THEY ARE MOVING WEST SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH
WHICH WILL TAKE THEM INTO THE CENTRAL DESERTS FROM WICKENBURG TO
PHOENIX THIS EVENING.

AS USUAL...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY REACHES ITS PEAK NEAR SUNSET. PERSONS
IN ARIZONAS CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND ON THE DESERTS SHOULD KEEP AN EYE
TO THE SKY AND PREPARE FOR THE HAZARDS OF THUNDERSTORMS... SHOULD
WEATHER APPROACH.

STRONG WINDS TO 50 MPH... BRIEF HEAVY RAIN... HAIL...DUST STORMS...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ALL ACCOMPANY THUNDERSTORMS.

VASQUEZ
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 3:46 PM MST, 1 hour 38 minutes before
AZZALL-052330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
330 PM MST SUN AUG 5 1990

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORSMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WINDS OVER THE
CENTRAL ARIZONA MOUNTAINS...

AT 315 PM WEATHER RADAR DETECTED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE
MOUNTAINS BETWEEN PRESCOTT...EASTWARD THROUGH PAYSON...AND SOUTHEAST
TO FORT APACHE OR NORTHEAST OF GLOBE.

RADAR SHOWED THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN AND
PERHAPS STRONG WINDS AS WELL.  RAINFALL RATES WERE ON THE ORDER OF
1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR WHICH MAY LEAD TO FLOODING OF WASHES AND
ROADWAY DIPS.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE NUMEROUS LATER THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  THEY ARE MOVING WEST SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH
WHICH WILL TAKE THEM INTO THE CENTRAL DESERTS FROM WICKENBURG TO
PHOENIX THIS EVENING.

AS USUAL...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY REACHES ITS PEAK NEAR SUNSET. PERSONS
IN ARIZONAS CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND ON THE DESERTS SHOULD KEEP AN EYE
TO THE SKY AND PREPARE FOR THE HAZARDS OF THUNDERSTORMS... SHOULD
WEATHER APPROACH.

STRONG WINDS TO 50 MPH... BRIEF HEAVY RAIN... HAIL...DUST STORMS...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ALL ACCOMPANY THUNDERSTORMS.

VASQUEZ
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 4:29 PM MST, 55 minutes before
AZZALL-060100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
425 PM MST SUN AUG 5 1990

...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WINDS MOVING FROM
PRESCOTT SOUTHWEST TOWARDS HIGHWAY 93 BETWEEN WIKIEUP AND WICKENBURG...

THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOPED OVER THE MOUNTAINS NEAR PRESCOTT THIS
AFTERNOON HAVE ORGANIZED INTO A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN.  AT 415 PM THE THUNDERSTORM LINE WAS LOCATED 15 MILES WEST OF
PRESCOTT...EXTENDING SOUTHEAST TOWARDS THE INTERSTATE 17 TOWN OF BLACK
CANYON CITY.

THIS LINE WAS MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH AND WILL CARRY INTO HIGHWAY 93
...INCLUDING THE TOWN AND CITY OF WIKIEUP AND WICKENBURG BETWEEN 430
AND 6PM.  THESE STO&RMS CONTAIN HEAVY RAIN... STRONG WINDS TO 50 MPH...
AND POSSIBLY HAIL.

VASQUEZ
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 5:06 PM MST, 18 minutes before
AZZALL-060200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
505 PM MST SUN AUG 5 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS BUILDING TOWARDS THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY CITIES OF
BULLHEAD... LAKE HAVASU... PARKER THIS EVENING...

THUNDERSTORMS BUILDING OVER THE MOUNTAINS FROM KINGMAN TO PRESCOTT
AND TOWARDS PHOENIX ARE EXPANDING WEST AND SOUTHWESTWARD.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY MOVE INTO THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY FROM
PARKER NORTH TO BULLHEAD CITY TAHIS EVENING. STRONG WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY
RAIN... DUST STORMS AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE
THUNDERSTORMS.

VASQUEZ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 5, 5:24 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal111 min
Aug 5, 5:47 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMohave2 hr
Aug 5, 5:47 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMohave118 min
Aug 5, 6:40 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRLa Paz, Mohave110 min
Aug 5, 6:40 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRLa Paz, Mohave110 min
Aug 5, 8:35 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRLa Paz85 min
Aug 5, 8:35 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRLa Paz85 min
Aug 6, 3:00 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRLa Paz, Mohave3 hr
Aug 6, 3:00 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRLa Paz, Mohave3 hr
Aug 6, 3:40 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa110 min
Aug 6, 3:40 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa110 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1990Every flash flood warning in 1990

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.