Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Phoenix, AZ

September 4, 1994Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this tornado warning at Sep 4, 1994, 6:43 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 32 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 4, 1994, 6:43 PM MST (01:43 UTC)
Expired
Sep 4, 1994, 7:15 PM MST
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pinal County, AZ

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:46 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 92 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 1994-09-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 945 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1994-09-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -2 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
945 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1768 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-57 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 050151 COR
TORPHX
AZC021-050215-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
643 PM MST SUN SEP 4 1994

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX AZ HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

  ...NORTHERN PINAL COUNTY
     INCLUDING THE TOWN OF MARICOPA

AT 643 PM...A TORNADO WAS DETECTED BY PHOENIX DOPPLER RADAR NEAR THE
TOWN OF MARICOPA. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

IF YOU ARE NEAR THIS DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

ABANDON VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES AND SEEK COVER IN A REINFORCED
SHELTER.


CUSHMEER

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, Sep 4, 3:20 PM MST, 3 hours 23 minutes before
AZZ008-050030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
320 PM MST SUN SEP 4 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS BUILDING OVER THE DISTANT MOUNTAINS NORTH OF
PHOENIX MOVING SOUTH TOWARD THE FAR NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE GREATER
PHOENIX AREA AT 310 PM...

AT 310 PM PHOENIX DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A GROUP OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING OFF THE MOUNTAINS AND BUILDING TOWARD THE FAR NORTHERN PORTIONS
OF THE GREATER PHOENIX AREA.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE BEING MONITORED
CLOSELY AND COULD LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
ACROSS PARTS THE GREATER PHOENIX AREA LATER IN THE AFTERNOON.

THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AND RAIN IN THE SALT RIVER
VALLEY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

RESIDENTS AND MOTORISTS SHOULD MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS IN THE AREA.
THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE PHOENIX AREA FROM THE NORTH. HEAVY RAIN
AND STRONG WINDS TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE, ALONG WITH DENSE BLOWING DUST.

AT 320 PM THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF CAREFREE
AND CAVE CREEK.

VASQUEZ
Special weather statement, Sep 4, 3:25 PM MST, 3 hours 18 minutes before
AZZ008-050030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
320 PM MST SUN SEP 4 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS BUILDING OVER THE DISTANT MOUNTAINS NORTH OF
PHOENIX MOVING SOUTH TOWARD THE FAR NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE GREATER
PHOENIX AREA AT 310 PM...

AT 310 PM PHOENIX DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A GROUP OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING OFF THE MOUNTAINS AND BUILDING TOWARD THE FAR NORTHERN PORTIONS
OF THE GREATER PHOENIX AREA.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE BEING MONITORED
CLOSELY AND COULD LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
ACROSS PARTS THE GREATER PHOENIX AREA LATER IN THE AFTERNOON.

THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AND RAIN IN THE SALT RIVER
VALLEY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

RESIDENTS AND MOTORISTS SHOULD MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS IN THE AREA.
THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE PHOENIX AREA FROM THE NORTH. HEAVY RAIN
AND STRONG WINDS TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE, ALONG WITH DENSE BLOWING DUST.

AT 320 PM THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF CAREFREE
AND CAVE CREEK.

VASQUEZ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 4, 6:10 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa60 min
Sep 4, 6:32 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal63 min
Sep 4, 7:25 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRPinal80 min
Sep 4, 7:25 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRPinal80 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arizona, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.