Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

May 25, 1996Graham County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1996, 11:26 AM MST for Graham County, Arizona. It was in force for 49 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, 11:26 AM MST (18:26 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1996, 12:15 PM MST
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Flagstaff, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Graham County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 135 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:28 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 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 127 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 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 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 1996-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 87 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
1519 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, 9:06 AM MST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 25, 9:06 AM MST, 2 hours 20 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, 8:31 AM MST, 2 hours 55 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, 9:15 AM MSTTornado WarningFGZNavajo45 min
May 25, 10:18 AM MSTTornado WarningFGZCoconino57 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.