Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 14, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 16, 1990Cochise County, Santa Cruz County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 16, 1990, 3:31 PM MST for Cochise County, Santa Cruz County, Arizona. It was in force for 119 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 1990, 3:31 PM MST (22:31 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1990, 5:30 PM MST
In force
119 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cochise County, AZ, Santa Cruz 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, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 77 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 1990-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 681 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 1990-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 42 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
681 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-64 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1100 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KTUS 162231
FFWTUS
AZC003-023-170030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
331 PM MST THU AUG 16 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE SOUTHEAST PART OF ARIZONA
      SOUTHWEST COCHISE...

   IN THE EXTREME SOUTH PART OF ARIZONA
      EASTERN SANTA CRUZ...

AT 320MST REPORTS OF HEAVY RAIN WERE RECEIVED AT THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN TUCSON.  THESE REPORTS WERE CONFIRMED BY
RADAR.

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.

 THE COMMUNITIES OF BISBEE, BENSON,ST. DAVID, SIERRA VISTA,THE
 FORT HUACUCHA wAREA, AND OTHER SMALL TOWNS IN THE AFFECTED AREA.

 BARTOLOME

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, 3:22 PM MST, 9 minutes before
AZZ009>010-170000-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
325 PM MST THU AUG 16 1990

...AT 320 PM WEATHER RADAR AS WELL AS VISUAL OBSERVATIONS INDICATED
HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING WEST OFTHE TUCSON AREA...
THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO OCCURING OVER MUCH OF SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA AT
THIS TIME. THE HEAVIEST STORMS ARE LOCATED IN EASTERN SANTA CRUZ
MUCH OF COCHISE COUNTIES.  PEOPLE IN THE AREAS OF SONOITA...SIERRA
VISTA...BENSON/ST.DAVID...BISBEE...AND RURAL TOWNS THROUGHOUT SOUTH-
EASTERN ARIZONA SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE WEATHER. IF STRONG STORMS
OCCUR IN YOUR AREA...FIND INDOOR SHELTER. THE STORMS ARE MOVING SOUTH-
EAST AT 10 TO 20 MPH.

...THESE THUNDERSTROMS MAYk CAUSE STRONG AND DAMAGING WINDS...HAIL...
HEAVY RAIN WITH LOCALIZED FLOODING...AND DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING.

ROBINSON/NWS TUS

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.