Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1993

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Phoenix, AZ

January 18, 1993Maricopa County, Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this tornado warning at Jan 18, 1993, 1:20 PM MST for Maricopa County, Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 40 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 18, 1993, 1:20 PM MST (20:20 UTC)
Expired
Jan 18, 1993, 2:00 PM MST
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

Counties Maricopa County, AZ, Pinal County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 143 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 1993-01-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 19 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 1993-01-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 417 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
19 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-143 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1117 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
79 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
417 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
408 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 182022
TORPHX
AZC013-021-182130-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX ARIZONA
120 PM MST MON JAN 18 1993

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 PM MST
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...MARICOPA COUNTY ...   AND NORTHERN PINAL COUNTY...

BETWEEN 100 AND 1:15 PM THERE WERE NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS
THROUGHOUT A LARGE PART OF THE GREATER PHOENIX AREA.  THE FUNNEL CLOUDS
WERE ALONG AN  EAST-WEST LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS ... A FEW VERY STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL.   MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

CITIES AND TOWNS INCLUDED IN THIS WARNING ARE APACHE JUNCTION AND KINGS
RANCH.

THE BEST COVER IS A BASEMENT...STORM SHELTER OR BOMB SHELTER. THE
NEXT BEST SHELTER IS A STRONG...REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT
GET IN A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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 DITCH OR CULVERT.

A BASEMENT OR DITCH MAY BE THE BEST SHELTER IN A TORNADO...BUT ITS
THE WORST PLACE TO BE IN A FLASHFLOOD. AS SOON AS THE TORNADO IS
GONE...FzIND A NEW SHELTER WHERE YOU WONT BE TRAPPED BY RISING WATER.

SIPPLE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 18, 3:47 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal118 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.