Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 33, NWS Phoenix, AZ

September 14, 1996Gila County, Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 14, 1996, 3:35 AM MST for Gila County, Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 85 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 14, 1996, 3:35 AM MST (10:35 UTC)
Expired
Sep 14, 1996, 5:00 AM MST
In force
85 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

Counties Gila County, AZ, Maricopa County, AZ

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:36 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 00:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 171 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 1996-09-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1046 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 1996-09-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1046 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2120 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPHX 141036
FFWPHX
AZC007-013-141200-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
335 AM MST SAT SEP 14 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX AZ HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 AM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
LOCATIONS...

IN EAST-CENTRAL ARIZONA

  ...SOUTHWESTERN GILA COUNTY
     INCLUDING ROOSEVELT LAKE

IN SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA

  ...NORTHEASTERN MARICOPA COUNTY
     INCLUDING TORTILLA FLAT...AND SAGUARO...CANYON AND APACHE LAKES

AT 330 AM MST...PHOENIX DOPPLER RADAR WAS SHOWING A LINE OF STRONG 
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS FAR NORTHEAST MARICOPA AND FAR SOUTHWEST GILA
COUNTIES...MAINLY BETWEEN TORTILLA FLAT AND ROOSEVELT.

THE STORMS WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...WITH NEW STORMS
CONTINUING TO REDEVELOP AND MOVE ACROSS THE SAME AREAS. VERY HEAVY 
RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING AREA UNTIL AT LEAST 5
AM.

HIGHWAY 88 WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS FLASH FLOOD WARNING...AS WELL AS
CAMPGROUNDS IN AND AROUND THE SALT RIVER RECREATIONAL LAKES. 

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.
 
DO NOT CAMP OR PARK YOUR VEHICLE NEAR STREAMS OR OTHER AREAS SUBJECT
TO FLASH FLOODING.

ESTLE

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 14, 3:21 AM MST, 14 minutes before
AZZ020-141300-

SHORT TERM FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
315 AM MST SAT SEP 14 1996

AZZ020-141300-
SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY AND SALT/VERDE RIVER VALLEYS-

.NOW...
...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING TO DEVELOP NEAR THE SALT RIVER LAKES...
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO ERUPT AROUND THE
SALT RIVER LAKES EARLY THIS MORNING. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL RUMBLE
THROUGHOUT THE AREA THROUGH AT LEAST 6 AM...ESPECIALLY BETWEEN
TORTILLA FLAT AND ROOSEVELT. CAMPERS IN THE AREA SHOULD BE ON THE
LOOKOUT FOR BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...GUSTY WINDS TO 40 MPH AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS. SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO DEVELOP TOWARDS THE GLOBE AREA BEFORE 6 AM.

ESTLE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 13, 5:00 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa75 min
Sep 13, 5:03 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRGila117 min
Sep 14, 5:00 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRGila, Maricopa90 min
Sep 14, 9:40 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRGila110 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.