Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1992

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Phoenix, AZ

October 23, 1992Mohave County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 23, 1992, 10:15 PM MST for Mohave County, Arizona. It was in force for 105 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Oct 23, 1992, 10:15 PM MST (05:15 UTC)
Expired: Oct 24, 1992, 12:00 AM MST
In force: 105 min
Issued by: NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area: Whole counties

County Mohave County, AZ

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Oct 23, 11:10 PM MST	Hail 1.75	Mohave, AZ

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Mercury/Desert R, NV (KDRA), launched 00:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 226 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2952 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 74 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 KPHX 240517
SVRPHX
AZC015-240715-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX ARIZONA
1015 PM MST FRI OCT 23 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 12 MIDNIGHT MST
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN NORTHWEST ARIZONA
 
   ...SOUTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY
 
AT 10:10 PM MST A WEATHER SPOTTER IN LAKE HAVASU CITY REPORTED
GOLF-BALL SIZED HAIL.
 
RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH BRIEF HEAVY RAINS IN SOUTHERN
MOHAVE COUNTY MOVING SLOWLY TO THE NORTH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAUSE DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING. MOVE INSIDE A REINFORCED BUILDING OR STORM SHELTER. GO TO
AN INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.
 
SIPPLE

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Oct 23, 5:53 PM MST, 4 hours 22 minutes before

AZZALL-230400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX ARIZONA
555 PM MST FRI OCT 23 1992

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS RUMBLE ACROSS THE DESERTS...

AT 5:30 PM RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS INDICATED A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM WITH BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL BETWEEN CHANDLER
AND CASA GRANDE.  MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT ABOUT 25 MPH.

EARLIER...AT ABOUT 4:30 PM... 1/2 INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED IN
NORTHWEST TUCSON. MORE THUNDERSTORMS WERE SEEN NEAR GLOBE/MIAMI.

PERSONS IN THE PHOENIX AREA...ESPECIALLY IN THE EAST VALLEY SHOULD
EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO.  MOTORISTS SHOULD
SLOW DOWN AND LEAVE PLENTY OF ROOM BETWEEN VEHICLES.  SOME FLOODING
OF LOW SPOTS AND HI0GHWAY DIPS IS LIKELY WITH THE HEAVIER SHOWERS.

SIPPLE

Local storm report, Oct 23, 9:31 PM MST, 44 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
930 PM MST FRI OCT 23 1992

                      MST     PATH   # PERSONS  EST. DAMAGE  CHARACTER
PLACE          DATE   TIME    L   W  KILL. INJ. PROP. CROPS  OF STORM

PINAL CO
ARIZONA CITY   10/23   EST: 1930MST                         TSTM WINDS
(15 S CZG)
               ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE REPORTED 15 POWER POLES DOWNED.

SIPPLE  24/0429Z

Special weather statement, Oct 23, 10:00 PM MST, 15 minutes before

AZZALL-230500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX ARIZONA
958 PM MST FRI OCT 23 1992

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE AROUND THE STATE...

AT 9:30 PM RADAR AND SATELLITE DATA INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS IN
TWO AREAS ...ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER BETWEEN BLYTHE AND LAS VEGAS
...AND TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF PHOENIX.  NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS
EXPECTED IN ANY AREA OF THE STATE LATER TONIGHT...ALTHOUGH LIGHTNING
AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINS ARE STILL FORECAST UNTIL EARLY SATURDAY.

EARLIER ... 15 POWER POLES WERE DOWNED BY WINDS IN ARIZONA CITY
AND LIGHTNING DETECTORS RECORDED OVER 100 LIGHTNING STRIKES NEAR
FLORENCE IN A 30 MINUTE PERIOD.   BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL AND HAIL HIT
CASA GRANDE...AND HAIL EVEN COVERED THE GROUND NORTHWEST OF TOWN.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES AS NEEDED.
SIPPLE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 23, 6:35 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Maricopa	85 min
Oct 23, 7:35 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Pinal	55 min
Oct 23, 10:45 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	PSR	Mohave	60 min
Oct 24, 12:55 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Pinal	95 min
Oct 24, 1:33 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Gila, Pinal	117 min
Oct 24, 1:38 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Maricopa	2 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1992 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1992

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.