Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1990
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this tornado warning at Sep 3, 1990, 5:18 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 27 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 3, 1990, 5:18 PM MST (00:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 3, 1990, 5:45 PM MST
- In force
- 27 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.
The nearest sounding before it
Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 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
- 66 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -172 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1952 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 7 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -37 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 040018 TORPHX AZC013-040045- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX ARIZONA 518 PM MST MON SEP 3 1990 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM MST FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...... IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA ...NORTH CENTRAL MARICOPA COUNTY WEATHER SPOTTERS AND POLICE IN NORTH PHOENIX WERE MONITORING A TORNADO IN THE AREA OF UNION HILLS AND BETWEEN 7TH AVE AND 7TH STREET AT 510 PM. MOVEMENT WAS TOWARD THE NORTHWEST. OTHER FUNNELS APPEARED TO BE FORMING TO THE NORTHEAST OF THE PRESENT TORNADO. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. GET AWAY FROM WI NDOWS. GO TO AN INTERIOR ROOM...HALLWAY OR CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH...BED OR OTHER STRONG PIECE OF FURNITURE. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS OR CUSHIONS TO PROTECT AGAINST FLYING GLASS BJOREM
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, Sep 3, 11:41 AM MST, 5 hours 37 minutes before
AZZALL-032200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX ARIZONA 1140 AM MST MON SEPT 3 1990 ...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WINDS MOVING OVER WESTERN MOHAVE COUNTY...AND DEVELOPING ELSEWHERE IN ARIZONA... AT 1135 AM MST...WEATHER RADAR AND SATELLITE PHOTOS INDICATED RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS IN ARIZONA. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE OVER WESTERN MOHAVE COUNTY...AS WELL AS IN THE WHITE MOUNTAIN AREA. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE INCREASING IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY IN MUCH OF THE NORTH AND EAST HALVES OF ARIZONA. GENERAL STORM MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AND NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. SINCE THE ATMOSPHERE IS UNUSUALLY MOIST...ANY SHOWERS FALLING FROM THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE QUITE HEAVY. ITS NOT UNLIKELY THAT A SUDDEN CLOUDBURST COULD DROP MORE THAN AN INCH OF RAIN IN A SHORT TIME...AND CAUTION IS URGED. < DUE TO THE RANDOM NATURE OF THUNDERSTORMS ITS HARD TO PREDICT PRECISELY WHO WILL GET THE HEAVY RAIN. SOIL CONDITIONS AROUND ARIZONA ARE FAIRLY SATURATED FROM PERVIOUS RAINS...WHICH HEIGHTENS THE POTENTIAL FOR RAPID RUNOFF IN NORMALLY DRY WASHES AND CANYONS. HOLIDAY RECREATIONALISTS AROUND THE STATE...INCLUDING BOATERS AND CAMPERS...SHOULD BE ALERT FOR WEATHER CHANGES IN YOUR AREA TODAY. BOATERS AND THOSE OUTDOORS ALONG THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER IN MOHAVE COUNTY SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY ON THE ALERT FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DUIRING THE NEXT FEW HOURS. THE VERY HUMID AND UNSTABLE WEATHER PATTERN WILL ALSO CONTINUE OVER THE STATE THROUGH TUESDAY. FRANJEVIC MWF 09/03/1841Z
The office that day
Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4, 4:45 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Pinal | 60 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Arizona, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes 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.