Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Tucson, AZ

September 11, 1994Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this tornado warning at Sep 11, 1994, 1:47 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 28 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 11, 1994, 1:47 PM MST (20:47 UTC)
Expired
Sep 11, 1994, 2:15 PM MST
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 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 1994-09-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 385 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 12:00Z on 1994-09-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
385 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-208 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1621 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
70 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KTUS 112048
TORTUS
AZC019-112115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
147 PM MST SUN SEP 11 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN PIMA COUNTY
 
A WEATHER SPOTTER HAS REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR THE TOWN OF CATALINA.
HE SAID THE FUNNEL WAS MOVING TO THE EAST. HE WAS ON HIGHWAY 89 JUST
APPROACHING CATALINA.
 
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM O\N THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
BARTOLOME

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 11, 1:32 PM MST, 15 minutes before
AZZ009-112230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
132 PM MST SUN SEP 11 1994

...THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE GREATER TUCSON AREA...

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE FORMED OVER THE GREATER TUCSON AREA, WITH SOME WIDELY
SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS, AND OF COURSE SOME DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING.

WHILE THESE STORMS DO NOT APPEAR TO BE SEVERE, AT LEAST AT THIS POINT IN
TIME,  ANY THUNDERSTORM HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN, STRONG GUSTY
WIND, AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

PERSONS OUT IN THE VICINITY OF THESE STORMS SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE
MEASURES TO INSURE THEIR SAFETY.

NWS/BARTOLOME
Special weather statement, Sep 11, 1:33 PM MST, 14 minutes before
AZZ009-112230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
132 PM MST SUN SEP 11 1994

...THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE GREATER TUCSON AREA...

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE FORMED OVER THE GREATER TUCSON AREA, WITH SOME WIDELY
SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS, AND OF COURSE SOME DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING.

WHILE THESE STORMS DO NOT APPEAR TO BE SEVERE, AT LEAST AT THIS POINT IN
TIME,  ANY THUNDERSTORM HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN, SLTRONG GUSTY
WIND, AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

PERSONS OUT IN THE VICINITY OF THESE STORMS SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE
MEASURES TO INSURE THEIR SAFETY.

NWS/BARTOLOME

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 10, 5:55 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima65 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.