Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Tucson, AZ

March 7, 1994Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this tornado warning at Mar 7, 1994, 2:24 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 36 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 7, 1994, 2:24 PM MST (21:24 UTC)
Expired
Mar 7, 1994, 3:00 PM MST
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 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 1994-03-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1994-03-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
2609 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
187 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 072125
TORTUS
AZC019-072200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
224 PM MST MON MAR 7 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN PIMA COUNTY
      CENTRAL PORTION OF THE GREATER TUCSON AREA
 
...TORNADO OVER TUCSON...
 
AT 222 PM MST PUBLIC REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD AND POSSIBLY A TORNADO OVER
TUCSON.  THIS FUNNEL WAS VISIBLE ABOUT 7 MILES NORTH OF THE AIRPORT.
 
LITTLE MOVEMENT WAS NOTED.  THIS TORNADO SHOULD DISSIPATE WITHIN 30
MINUTES.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...SEEK SHELTER IN THE
INNERMOST PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET TO
A BASEMENT IF ONE IS AVAILABLE.  AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR
BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.
 
WEBER

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, Mar 7, 1:55 PM MST, 29 minutes before
AZC019-072300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
155 PM MST MON MAR 7 1994

...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING TUCSON...

AT 150 PM MST A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVELOPING JUST WEST AND
NORTHWEST OF THE GREATER TUCSON AREA.  THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL
BE MOVING NORTHEAST ACROSS PARTS OF THE CITY DURING THE NEXT HOUR OR
TWO.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE SOME DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNIN
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL, HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.  SOME FLOODING OF
CITY STREETS AND NORMALLY DRY WASHES CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED.

AFTER THIS LINE OF STORMS MOVES THROUGH THE AREA, MORE SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT AND EARLY TOMORROW.

IF THREATENING WEATHER MOVES YOUR WAY, SEEK SHELTER.  STAY TUNED TO
RADIO AND TV OR LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WEATHER WARNINGS.

WEBER
Special weather statement, Mar 7, 1:58 PM MST, 26 minutes before
AZC019-072300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
155 PM MST MON MAR 7 1994

...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING TUCSON...

AT 150 PM MST A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVELOPING JUST WEST AND
NORTHWEST OF THE GREATER TUCSON AREA.  THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL
BE MOVING NORTHEAST ACROSS PARTS OF THE CITY DURING THE NEXT HOUR OR
TWO.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE SOME DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNIN
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL, HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.  SOME FLOODING OF
CITY STREETS AND NORMALLY DRY WASHES CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED.

AFTER THIS LINE OF STORMS MOVES THROUGH THE AREA, MORE SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT AND EARLY TOMORRfOW.

IF THREATENING WEATHER MOVES YOUR WAY, SEEK SHELTER.  STAY TUNED TO
RADIO AND TV OR LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WEATHER WARNINGS.

WEBER

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.