Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 7, 1990Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 7, 1990, 11:31 AM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 119 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 7, 1990, 11:31 AM MST (18:31 UTC)
Expired
Jul 7, 1990, 1:30 PM MST
In force
119 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 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 1990-07-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 582 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 1990-07-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 7 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
582 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-67 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1231 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
48 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 071831
FFWTUS
AZC019-072030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1131 AM MST SAT JUL 7 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 130 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF ARIZONA
      EASTERN PIMA

AT (1130 AM THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN ON THE
TANQUE VERDE...PANTANO...AMD SANTA CRUZ WATER SHEDS.  RUNOFF
IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN FLOODING OF NORMALLY DRY CREEKS...WASHES
AND RIVERS IN EAST PIMA COUNTY THROUGH EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.

OVER TWO INCHES OF RAIN HAS ALREADY FALLEN ON THE TANQUE VERDE
WATERSHED WITHIN THE LAST ONE HOUR.

STAY OUT OF WASHES AND LOW LYING AREAS.  FLASH FLOODS CAN OCCUR
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.

IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNED COUNTY IN AN AREA SUBJECT TO FLOODING
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE OVER ROADS COVERED BY FLOOD WATERS OR
ACROSS FLOODED HIGHWAY DIPS.

 CRIMMINS/NWS TUS

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, Jul 7, 9:54 AM MST, 1 hour 37 minutes before
AZZ009-023-003-071900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
945 AM MST SAT JUL 7 1990

AT 945 AM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LARGE AREA OF MODERATE TO HEAVY
RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST PIMA COUNTY AND SANTA CRUZ
COUNTY FROM NORTHERN SONORA.  THE SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT IN NOGALES HAS
REPORTED MODERATE RAIN AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

THIS STORM SYSTEM IS MOVING NORTH AT 15 TO 20 MPH.  MODERATE TO HEAVY
RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED WITH
THIS STORM SYSTEM.  THE THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAIN WILL MOVE INTO THE
GREEN VALLEY AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 1 TO 2 HOURS.

THE AIRMASS OVER SOUTHEAST ARIZONA IS VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE.
THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TODAY WITH HEAVY RAINS.  FLOODING OF WASHES
AND NORMALLY DRY CREEKS AND WASHES IS A STRONG POSSIBILITY.  PERSONS
ENGAGED IN OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE
FLOODING IF NORMALLY DRY CREEKS...WASHES AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS.
<
THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE TUCSON METROPOLITAN
AREA BY LATE MORNING OR EARLY AFTERNOON.

NWS TUS/CRIMMINS
Special weather statement, Jul 7, 10:47 AM MST, 44 minutes before
AZZ019-071900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1040 AM MST SAT JUL 7 1990

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING INTO SOUTHERN TUCSON WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS
ARE MOVING NORTH AT 15 TO 20 MPH AND WILL AFFECT THE TUCSON METROPOLTAN
AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS DUMPED JUST OVER AN INCH OF RAIN IN THE GREEN VALEY
AREA IN LESS THAN ONE HOUR.  URBAN STREET FLOODING IS EXPECTED IN THE
TUCSON AREA AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE ACROSS THE AREA IN THE NEXT
1 TO 2 HOURS.  AGAIN...THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING NORTH AT 15 TO 20
MPH ACCOMPANIED BY STRONG  GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING.

FLOODING OF NORMALLY DRY CREEKS AND WASHES IS LIKEY IN EASTERN PIMA
COUNTY.
NWS TUS/CRIMMINS

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.