Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1993

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 30, 1993Cochise County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this tornado warning at Aug 30, 1993, 2:53 PM MST for Cochise County, Arizona. It was in force for 67 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 30, 1993, 2:53 PM MST (21:53 UTC)
Expired
Aug 30, 1993, 4:00 PM MST
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Cochise County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 113 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 1993-08-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 404 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 1993-08-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 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
404 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
720 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
2 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 302156
TORTUS
AZC003-302300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
253 PM MST MON AUG 30 1993
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST ARIZONA
 
   ...SOUTHWESTERN COCHISE COUNTY
 
AT 251 PM MST THE COCHISE COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPT REPORTED 3 FUNNEL
CLOUDS SIGHTED HALF WAY BETWEEN SIERRA VISTA AND BISBEE...NEAR
HWY 92.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR A6ND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

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

Special weather statement, Aug 30, 12:46 PM MST, 2 hours 7 minutes before
AZC003-019-023-302145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
1246 PM MST MON AUG 30 1993

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS NEAR MIRANA AND TOMBSTONE...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF ARIZONA UNTIL 9 PM MST...

AT 1240 PM MST...WEATHER RADAR IN PHOENIX AND TUCSON INDICATED A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM ONGOING ABOUT 4 MILES SOUTH OF MIRANA IN NORTHEAST PIMA
COUNTY WITH ANOTHER 5 MILES EAST OF TOMBSTONE IN COCHISE COUNTY.  THESE
STORMS APPEARED CAPABLE OF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT
LIGHTINING...AND SMALL HAIL.  BOTH WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH SLOWLY AT
ABOUT 5 MPH.  RESIDENTS IN AND AROUND THESE AREAS ARE URGED TO TAKE
PROTECTIVE ACTIONS FOR THE DURATION OF THE STORMS.

ELSEWHERE...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWING UP THROUGHOUT SOUTHEAST
ARIZONA...WITH BUILDUPS VISIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS AROUND TUCSON.  FURTHER
DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND
EVENING.

FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS WILL BE ISSUED AS NECESSARY.

MEYER
Special weather statement, Aug 30, 12:46 PM MST, 2 hours 7 minutes before
AZC003-019-023-302145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
1246 PM MST MON AUG 30 1993

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS NEAR MIRANA AND TOMBSTONE...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF ARIZONA UNTIL 9 PM MST...

AT 1240 PM MST...WEATHER RADAR IN PHOENIX AND TUCSON INDICATED A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM ONGOING ABOUT 4 MILES SOUTH OF MIRANA IN NORTHEAST PIMA
COUNTY WITH ANOTHER 5 MILES EAST OF TOMBSTONE IN COCHISE COUNTY.  THESE
STORMS APPEARED CAPABLE OF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT
LIGHTINING...AND SMALL HAIL.  BOTH WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH SLOWLY AT
ABOUT 5 MPH.  RESIDENTS IN AND AROUND THESE AREAS ARE URGED TO TAKE
PROTECTIVE ACTIONS FOR THE DURATION OF THE STORMS.

ELSEWHERE...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWING UP THROUGHOUT SOUTHEAST
ARIZONA...WITH BUILDUPS VISIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS AROUND TUCSON.  FURTHER
DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND
EVENING.

FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS WILL BE ISSUED AS NECESSARY.

MEYER

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.