Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 10, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 3, 1990Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 3, 1990, 7:25 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 3, 1990, 7:25 PM MST (02:25 UTC)
Expired
Aug 3, 1990, 9:30 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, 2.4 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 1990-08-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 674 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 1990-08-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -40 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
674 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2215 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-9 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 040225
FFWTUS
AZC019-040430-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
725 PM MST FRI AUG 3 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF ARIZONA
      EXTREME EASTERN PIMA

AT 715 PM TUCSON AND PHOENIX RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
ALONG A LINE FROM GREEN VALLEY NORTH NORTHWEST TO JUST SOUTH OF
GLOBE.  THESE STORMS ARE MOVING SLOWLY SOUTHWEST AND WILL LIKELY
AFFECT THE TUCSON METRO AREA INCLUDING GREEN VALLEY AND MARANA
OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS.

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

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

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 3, 1:48 PM MST, 5 hours 37 minutes before
AZZ007-009-010-032330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
140 PM MST FRI AUG 3 1990

TUCSON WEATHER RADAR INDICATES NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS BUILDING AND
OCCURING THROUGHOUT MOST OF PIMA AND SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES AND CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN COCHISE COUNTY.  A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BE HEAVY WITH
STRONG GUSTY WINDS.  THERE IS LITTLE OR NO MOVEMENT TO THESE
STORMS SO UP TO 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAINFALL MAY OCCUR IN SOME AREAS
WITH POeSSIBLE LOCAL FLOODING.

PERSONS IN THE AFFECTED AREA SHOULD USE CAUTION WHILE IN THE VICINITY OF
THESE STORMS...AND BE ALERT TO DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...
RAPID WATER RISES IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS...AND STRONG WINDS.

MAZUR NWS TUS
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 5:16 PM MST, 2 hours 9 minutes before
AZZ007-009-010-040200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
515 PM MST FRI AUG 3 1990

TUCSON WEATHER RADAR INDICATES STRONG THUNDERSTORMS BUILDING AND
OCCURING THROUGHOUT MOST OF PIMA AND SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES AND CENTRAL
AND WESTERN COCHISE COUNTY.  THE LARGEST STORMS ARE LOCATED OVER BENSON
AND WEST OF TUCSON...ALSO THERE IS A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS BUILDING TO
THE NORTHWEST OF TUCSON...EXTENDING FROM TOMBSTONE TO CENTRAL PINAL
COUNTY.  THESE STORMS ARE MOVING SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHWEST AND COULD
EFFECT THE TUCSON METROPOLITAN AREA IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

PERSONS IN THE AFFECTED AREA SHOULD USE CAUTION WHILE IN THE VICINITY OF
THESE STORMS...AND BE ALERT TO DANGEROUS CLZOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...
RAPID WATER RISES IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS...AND STRONG WINDS.

ROBINSON NWS TUS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 3, 7:56 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima94 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.