Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1993

Flash Flood Warning 10, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 5, 1993Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 5, 1993, 5:31 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 59 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 5, 1993, 5:31 PM MST (00:31 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 1993, 6:30 PM MST
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 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 1993-08-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 438 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 1993-08-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 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
438 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-64 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2289 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 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 060033
FFWTUS
AZC019-060130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
531 PM MST THU AUG 5 1993
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY
 
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED IN CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY...
 
AT 530 PM TWO LARGE THUNDERSTORMS WITH TOPS ABOVE 50 THOUSAND FEET WERE
OCCURRING IN CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY.  THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED 25
MILES SOUTHEAST OF AJO WITH A SECOND STORM OF ALMOST EQUAL STRENGTH
LOCATED 15 MILES EAST OF AJO.
 
RADAR INDICATED THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SLOWLY FROM SOUTHEAST TO
NORTHWEST.
 
THESE ARE DANGEROUS STORMS.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...
DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.   IF OUTSIDE...MOVE TO A
SHELTER OR INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING...BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
 
MAZUR

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 5, 2:28 PM MST, 3 hours 3 minutes before
AZC003-019-023-060030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
228 PM MST THU AUG 5 1993

...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY INCREASING...

AT 210 PM MST WEATHER RADAR...LIGHTNING DETECTORS...AND VISUAL
OBSERVATIONS INDICATED AN INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY IN THE TUCSON AREA...SOUTHERN COCHISE COUNTY...AND SANTA
CRUZ COUNTY.  AT 200 PM A SPOTTER REPORTED FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND
20 TO 30 MPH WINDS WEST OF TUBAC IN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY.  AT 210 PM
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN TUCSON AND PHOENIX INDICATED
THUNDERSTORMS WITH POTENTIALLY HEAVY RAINS 10 MILES WEST OF TUCSON.
ALSO AT THIS TIME THUNDER WAS HEARD AT THE AIRPORT AND SHOWER ACTIVITY
WAS NOTED NEAR MOUNT LEMMON.  MOVEMENT OF MOST STORMS WAS SLOWLY TO
THE NORTH AROUND 5 MPH.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON AND
EARLY EVENING HOURS...WITH MOST THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY DIMINISHED BY
MIDNIGHT.  EVERYONE SHOULD REMAIN AWARE OF ANY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY
IN THEIR AREA...AND TAKE ANY NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS.  THESE STORMS MAY
BE ACCOMPANIED BY LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND STRONG
GUSTY WINDS.

FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS WILL BE ISSUED AS NECESSARY.

MEYER
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 2:30 PM MST, 3 hours 1 minute before
AZC003-019-023-060030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
228 PM MST THU AUG 5 1993

...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY INCREASING...

AT 210 PM MST WEATHER RADAR...LIGHTNING DETECTORS...AND VISUAL
OBSERVATIONS INDICATED AN INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY IN THE TUCSON AREA...SOUTHERN COCHISE COUNTY...AND SANTA
CRUZ COUNTY.  AT 200 PM A SPOTTER REPORTED FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND
20 TO 30 MPH WINDS WEST OF TUBAC IN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY.  AT 210 PM
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN TUCSON AND PHOENIX INDICATED
THUNDERSTORMS WITH POTENTIALLY HEAVY RAINS 10 MILES WEST OF TUCSON.
ALSO AT THIS TIME THUNDER WAS HEARD AT THE AIRPORT AND SHOWER ACTIVITY
WAS NOTED NEAR MOUNT LEMMON.  MOVEMENT OF MOST STORMS WAS SLOWLY TO
THE NORTH AROUND 5 MPH.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON AND
EARLY EVENING HOURS...WITH MOST THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY DIMINISHED BY
MIDNIGHT.  EVERYONE SHOULD REMAIN AWARE OF ANY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY
IN THEIR AREA...AND TAKE ANY NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS.  THESE STORMS MAY
BE ACCOMPANIED BY LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND STRONG
GUSTY WINDS.

FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS WILL BE ISSUED AS NECESSARY.

MEYER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 5, 5:31 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima59 min
Aug 6, 1:45 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima, Santa Cruz2 hr
Aug 6, 1:45 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima, Santa Cruz2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1993Every flash flood warning 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.