Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 28, 1994Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this tornado warning at Jul 28, 1994, 4:16 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 44 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Jul 28, 1994, 4:16 PM MST (23:16 UTC)
Expired: Jul 28, 1994, 5:00 PM MST
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Tucson, AZ
Area: Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 28, 4:28 PM MST	Tornado F2	To 12, AZ	A tornado touched down on the Hill Top area of northwest Tucson. The tornado travelled in a west-northwest direction, and its width varied from about a yard to 50 yards. The 7700 blocks of Soledad and Redwing Circle were particularly hit hard. A back porch

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 159 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -194 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2221 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -32 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 282316
TORTUS
AZC019-290000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
416 PM MST THU JUL 28 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...EASTERN PIMA COUNTY
 
AT 415 PM, MST TUCSON RECEIVED A SECOND HAND REPORT OF A FUNNEL CLOUD
IN EASTERN TUCSON, WITH SOMEONE REPORTING ROOF DAMAGE.
 
 
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.
 
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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 28, 2:45 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Cochise, Pima, Santa Cruz	2 hr
Jul 28, 4:00 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Cochise, Pima, Santa Cruz	60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arizona, 1994 Every tornado warning in 1994 Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.