Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1993

Flash Flood Warning 18, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 23, 1993Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 23, 1993, 4:40 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 23, 1993, 4:40 PM MST (23:40 UTC)
Expired
Aug 23, 1993, 5:45 PM MST
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 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 12:00Z on 1993-08-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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 1993-08-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 5 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2382 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-30 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 232343
FFWTUS
AZC019-240045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
440 PM MST MON AUG 23 1993
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...EAST CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED AT RYAN FIELD ABOUT 15 MILES WEST OF
TUCSON AT 430 PM. THE OBSERVER AT RYAN FIELD REPORTED A WIND GUST TO 92
MPH AT 435 PM MST. ALSO REPORTED WAS VERY HEAVY RAIN AND PEA TO MARBLE
SIZED HAIL.
 
THIS STORM WAS MOVING VERY SLOWLY SOUTH.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT.  IT'S
IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO STREAMS...RIVERS...OR
CREEKS WHICH CAN BECOME KILLERS IN HEAVY RAINS.  CAMPERS SHOULD
AVOID CAMPING ALONG STREAMS OR CREEKS DURING THREATENING RAINS.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  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.
 
WEBER
 
&

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 23, 3:55 PM MST, 45 minutes before
AZC019-023-240100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
355 PM MST MON AUG 23 1993

AT 345 PM MST...A FEW RATHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED BY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN SOUTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PIMA
COUNTY AND PORTIONS OF SANTA CRUZ.  THE STRONGEST AT THAT TIME WERE
NEAR ARIVACA...SASABE AND 10 MILES NORTH OF SELLS.  ALL OF THE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTH AT AROUND 10 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE STORMS LIKELY WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG
WIND AND LOTS OF DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.  RUNOFF INTO NORMALLY
DRY WASHES CAN BE EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS.  BE ALERT FOR
POSSIBLE SUDDEN INCREASES IN WATER FLOW.  HEAD FOR SHELTER IF
THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS FLOODED STREAMS OR HIGHWAY DIPS.

WEBER
Special weather statement, Aug 23, 3:59 PM MST, 41 minutes before
AZC019-023-240100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
355 PM MST MON AUG 23 1993

AT 345 PM MST...A FEW RATHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED BY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN SOUTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PIMA
COUNTY AND PORTIONS OF SANTA CRUZ.  THE STRONGEST AT THAT TIME WERE
NEAR ARIVACA...SASABE AND 10 MILES NORTH OF SELLS.  ALL OF THE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTH AT AROUND 10 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE STORMS LIKELY WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG
WIND AND LOTS OF DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.  RUNOFF INTO NORMALLY
DRY WASHES CAN BE EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS.  BE ALERT FOR
POSSIBLE SUDDEN INCREASES IN WAT>ER FLOW.  HEAD FOR SHELTER IF
THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS FLOODED STREAMS OR HIGHWAY DIPS.

WEBER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 23, 4:40 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima45 min

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.