Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 22, NWS Phoenix, AZ

September 2, 1996Maricopa County, Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 2, 1996, 12:35 AM MST for Maricopa County, Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 60 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
Sep 2, 1996, 12:35 AM MST (07:35 UTC)
Expired
Sep 2, 1996, 1:35 AM MST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

Counties Maricopa County, AZ, Pinal County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 143 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 00:00Z on 1996-09-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 998 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1996-09-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
998 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2493 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
66 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 KPHX 020736
FFWPHX
AZC013-021-020835-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
1235 AM MST MON SEP 2 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX AZ HAS ISSUED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 135 AM MST FOR
PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA

  ...EAST CENTRAL MARICOPA COUNTY
     INCLUDING MESA AND GILBERT
  ...NORTHWEST PINAL COUNTY
     INCLUDING APACHE JUNCTION 

AT 1230 AM MST...DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED AN AREA OF INTENSE
THUNDERSTORMS FROM MESA TO APACHE JUNCTION. RAINFALL RATES FROM THESE
STORMS WILL BE IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES PER HOUR. THUNDERSTORM WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 57 MILES PER HOUR ARE ALSO LIKELY WITH THE STORMS.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT. DO NOT TRY TO CROSS FLOODED HIGHWAYS. MOST FLASH FLOOD
DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.

IF THREATENING WEATHER DEVELOPS OR APP|ROACHES YOUR LOCATION...BE
PREPARED TO MOVE TO A SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY.

WOJCIK

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 1, 11:11 PM MST, 1 hour 24 minutes before
AZZ019-020-020800-

SHORT TERM FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
1110 PM MST SUN SEP 1 1996

AZZ019-020-020800-
PHOENIX METRO/CENTRAL DESERTS - SALT/VERDE RIVER VALLEYS-

.NOW...
...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN NORTHERN MARICOPA COUNTY...
WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER NORTHERN MARICOPA
COUNTY INCLUDING NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE GREATER PHOENIX METRO AREA.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP IN NORTHERN MARICOPA
COUNTY THROUGH 1 AM AND MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...
GUSTY WINDS...AND POSSIBLY SOME BLOWING DUST.

WOJCIK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 1, 11:30 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa45 min
Sep 1, 11:50 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal45 min
Sep 2, 12:15 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa60 min
Sep 2, 12:15 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa60 min
Sep 2, 12:35 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal60 min
Sep 2, 1:20 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal60 min
Sep 2, 1:20 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal60 min
Sep 2, 2:20 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal85 min
Sep 2, 2:20 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal85 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1996Every flash flood warning 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.