Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1993

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Phoenix, AZ

January 17, 1993Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this tornado warning at Jan 17, 1993, 2:02 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 33 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 17, 1993, 2:02 PM MST (21:02 UTC)
Expired
Jan 17, 1993, 2:35 PM MST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Maricopa County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tuscon, AZ at 12:00Z on 1993-01-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 113 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 1993-01-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 134 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
113 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
713 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPHX 172104
TORPHX
AZC013-172135-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX ARIZONA
202 PM MST SUN JAN 17 1993

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  235 PM MST
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...EAST MARICOPA COUNTY

THE TOWER AT FALCON FIELD REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD OVER THE CHANDLER
AREA APPROACHING THE GROUND.  THE FUNNEL IS LIKELY TO TOUCH DOWN
IN CHANDLER... MESA OR GILBERT... AND IS MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 10 MPH.

GET AWAY FROM WINDOWS. 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

TORNADOES DESTROY MOBILE HOMES. IF YOU ARE IN A TRAILER PARK...GO TO
THE PLACE DESIGNATED AS THE STORM SHELTER...OR ANY STRONG BUILDING.
IF YOU CANT FIND A REINFORCED BUILDING...GET IN A DITC(H OR CULVERT.

LOVEGROVE/CARPENTER

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

Local storm report, Jan 17, 12:53 PM MST, 1 hour 9 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
1250 PM MST SUN JAN 17 1993

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

S CNTRL ARIZ    01/17  1224M   FUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED BY SCOTTSDALE
(EAST CENTRAL                  TOWER.
MARICOPA COUNTY
                01/17  1226M   ?   ?    ?    1?    ?     0   TORNADO(F1)
                               TORNADO NEAR SHEA AND 112TH STREET
                               NUMEROUS ROOFS CAVED IN...DEBRIS IN ROADS
                               POWER LINES DOWN.  UNCONFIRMED REPORT OF
                               MAN IN WHEELCHAIR TRAPPED BY DOWNED LINES

LOVEGROVE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 17, 4:35 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRGila, Navajo4 hr
Jan 17, 4:35 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRCoconino, Yavapai4 hr
Jan 17, 4:35 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa4 hr
Jan 17, 8:20 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRCoconino, Gila, Yavapai7 hr
Jan 17, 8:20 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa7 hr
Jan 17, 8:20 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRNavajo7 hr
Jan 17, 8:20 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRApache7 hr
Jan 17, 12:32 PM MSTTornado WarningPSRMaricopa28 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arizona, 1993Every tornado warning in 1993Tornadoes in 1993

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.