Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 13, 1996, 12:53 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 37 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
- Mar 13, 1996, 12:53 PM MST (19:53 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 13, 1996, 1:30 PM MST
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Phoenix, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
County Maricopa County, AZ
The radar
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:55 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, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 198 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1837 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 73 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 140 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 201 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
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 severe thunderstorm 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, Mar 13, 10:10 AM MST, 2 hours 43 minutes before
AZZ007-013-017-018-019-020-132300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 1010 AM MST WED MAR 13 1996 ...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED OVER MUCH OF SOUTH-CENTRAL AND CENTRAL ARIZONA TODAY... A POTENT WINTER STORM CENTERED OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL MOVE SLOWLY EAST TODAY. A MOIST SOUTHWESTERLY AIR FLOW HAS COMBINED WITH COOLER AIR ALOFT TO CREATE AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL AND CENTRAL ARIZONA. ALREADY THIS MORNING...THUNDERSTORMS HAVE OCCURRED IN THE GLOBE-MIAMI AREA AND PORTIONS OF THE GREATER PHOENIX METROPOLITAN AREA. LUKE AIR FORCE BASE REPORTED PEA SIZE HAIL WITH A THUNDERSTORM AROUND 915 AM. AT 10 AM...PHOENIX DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AFFECTING MAINLY CENTRAL ARIZONA. MOST OF THE ACTIVITY WAS OCCURRING OVER SOUTHWEST GILA...NORTHERN MARICOPA...AND FAR NORTHEAST PINAL COUNTIES. INDIVIDUAL STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THE REMAINDER OF TODAY...AND WILL INCREASE IN BOTH AREAL COVERAGE AND INTENSITY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...AND STRONG, GUSTY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. GREEN
Special weather statement, Mar 13, 10:11 AM MST, 2 hours 42 minutes before
AZZ007-013-017-018-019-020-132300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 1010 AM MST WED MAR 13 1996 ...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED OVER MUCH OF SOUTH-CENTRAL AND CENTRAL ARIZONA TODAY... A POTENT WINTER STORM CENTERED OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL MOVE SLOWLY EAST TODAY. A MOIST SOUTHWESTERLY AIR FLOW HAS COMBINED WITH COOLER AIR ALOFT TO CREATE AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL AND CENTRAL ARIZONA. ALREADY THIS MORNING...THUNDERSTORMS HAVE OCCURRED IN THE GLOBE-MIAMI AREA AND PORTIONS OF THE GREATER PHOENIX METROPOLITAN AREA. LUKE AIR FORCE BASE REPORTED PEA SIZE HAIL WITH A THUNDERSTORM AROUND 915 AM. AT 10 AM...PHOENIX DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AFFECTING MAINLY CENTRAL ARIZONA. MOST OF THE ACTIVITY WAS OCCURRING OVER SOUTHWEST GILA...NORTHERN MARICOPA...AND FAR NORTHEAST PINAL COUNTIES. INDIVIDUAL STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THE REMAINDER OF TODAY...AND WILL INCREASE IN BOTH AREAL COVERAGE AND INTENSITY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...AND STRONG, GUSTY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. GREEN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 10:50 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Gila, Maricopa | 40 min |
| Mar 13, 10:55 AM MST | Tornado Warning | PSR | Maricopa | 30 min |
| Mar 13, 11:30 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Maricopa | 45 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1996Every severe thunderstorm 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.