Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this tornado warning at Mar 13, 1996, 10:55 AM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 30 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 13, 1996, 10:55 AM MST (17:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 13, 1996, 11:25 AM MST
- In force
- 30 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 17:56 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 11:05 AM MST | Hail 0.75 | Cave Creek, AZ | |
| Mar 13, 11:05 AM MST | Hail 1.5 | Carefree, AZ |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The nearest sounding before it
Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 5.9 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
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KPHX 131756
TORPHX
AZC013-131825-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
1055 AM MST WED MAR 13 1996
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX AZ HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1125 AM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
LOCATIONS...
IN SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA
...NORTHEASTERN MARICOPA COUNTY
INCLUDING CAVE CREEK AND CAREFREE
AT 1053...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSILBE TORNADO 10 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF CAVE CREEK...OR ABOUT 25 MILES NORTH OF DOWNTOWN PHOENIX.
THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. TOWNS
IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE CAVE CREEK AND CARE FREE.
BRUCEWhat 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.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Mar 13, 10:10 AM MST, 45 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, 44 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, 11:30 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Maricopa | 45 min |
| Mar 13, 12:53 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Maricopa | 37 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.