Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

May 25, 1996Navajo County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1996, 10:15 AM MDT for Navajo County, Arizona. It was in force for 45 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 25, 1996, 10:15 AM MDT (16:15 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1996, 11:00 AM MDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Flagstaff, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Navajo County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Flgstf/Belemont, AZ (KFGZ), launched 12:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 136 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, Flgstf/Belemont, AZ at 12:00Z on 1996-05-25Temperature 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 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Flgstf/Belemont, AZ at 12:00Z on 1996-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1080 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
139 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 KFLG 251616
TORFLG
AZC017-251700-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
915 AM MST SAT MAY 25 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 AM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
...ALONG THE COCONINO COUNTY AND NAVAJO COUNTY BORDER
 
...FUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED 15 MILES SOUTH OF ORAIBI ON COCONINO/NAVAJO
COUNTY LINE...
 
THE NAVAJO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT HAS RECEIVED REPORTS OF TWO
FUNNEL CLOUDS SPOTTED NEAR STATE HIGHWAY 2 BETWEEN LEUPP AND ORAIBI.  IF
YOU ARE NEAR THE TOWNS OF ORAIBI...BACOBI AND HOTEVILLA...BE ON ALERT
FOR DANGEROUS WEATHER.
 
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 AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
 
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR UPDATES ON THIS SEVERE WEATHER
EVENT.
 
PEREZ

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.

NWS Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 25, 10:06 AM MDT, 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 25, 10:06 AM MDT, 9 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
900 AM MST SAT MAY 25 1996

CONVECTION ALREADY STARTING TO TAKE OFF...ATTM CONFINED TO NRN
ZONE 11 AND WRN ZONE 8.  HAD A CIVILIAN REPORT OF A TORNADO
BETWEEN LEUPP AND ORAIBI...CURRENTLY TRYING TO CONFIRM.  88-D
SHOWING DECENT MESOCYCLONE TYPE ROTATION FROM 15 TO 19 KFT.

LOOKS LIKE THE JOB FOR TODAY IS TO WATCH RADAR AND JUMP ON
FEATURES THAT WE CAN IDENTIFY.  POPS FOR FIRST PD COULD PROBABLY
USE A NUDGING UP AS CONVECTION WILL BE RELATIVELY WIDESPREAD.

OTHERWISE THE REST OF THE FCST LOOKS OKAY.  NO CHANGES TO THE
FCST TRENDS.  GETTING THROUGH TODAY WILL BE THE PRIORITY.

PEREZ

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 25, 9:31 AM MDT, 44 minutes before
AZZ008-011-251700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
830 AM MST SAT MAY 25 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN EAST CENTRAL COCONINO COUNTY THIS
MORNING...

AT 8:15 AM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR REVEALED
A DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORM APPROXIMATELY 35 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
TUBA CITY.  THIS THUNDERSTORM IS PRODUCING LIGHTNING AND WILL
CONTINUE GROWING THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS.

IF YOU ARE NEAR TUBA CITY AND CAMERON THIS MORNING...BE ALERT FOR
DANGEROUS WEATHER AS THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE HAIL AND LOCALLY
GUSTY WINDS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND
POSSIBLE ADVISORIES/WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER
|SITUATION.

PEREZ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 11:18 AM MDTTornado WarningFGZCoconino57 min
May 25, 12:26 PM MDTTornado WarningFGZGraham49 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arizona, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996

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.