Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 12, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 8, 1996Cochise County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 8, 1996, 3:11 PM MST for Cochise County, Arizona. It was in force for 94 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
Jul 8, 1996, 3:11 PM MST (22:11 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 1996, 4:45 PM MST
In force
94 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Cochise County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:11 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 113 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 1996-07-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 925 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 12:00Z on 1996-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 87 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
925 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-124 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1708 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
116 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 KTUS 082215 COR
FFWTUS
AZC003-090015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...CORRECTION
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
311 PM MST MON JUL 8 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST ARIZONA

   ...SOUTHWEST COCHISE COUNTY

AT 305 PM TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING
EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN OVER HUACHUCA CITY AND THE JUNCTION HIGHWAYS 90 AND
82. RADAR RAINFALL ESTIMATES OF 1.0 TO 2.0 INCHES PER HOUR WERE BEING
OBSERVED.

STORMS TODAY HAVE BEEN SLOW MOVING AND PRODUCING EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

MCCOLLUM

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.

NWS Tucson, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jul 8, 2:18 PM MST, 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 2:18 PM MST, 53 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
200 PM MST MON JUL 8 1996

DEWPOINT HOLDING AT 60 AND HEAVY RAIN PRODUCERS NOW OVR MTNS...SO
JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE STORMS MOVE INTO VALLEYS. BEST STORMS
UP IN ZONE 25 AND WEST OF FHU...WITH CELL MOTION NWLY. CAPE NOW
1100 SO SOME STORMS MAY ALSO GO SEVERE IN ADDITION TO FLASH FLOODING.
STORMS MAY PUSH WELL OUT IN VALLEY...POSSIBLY TO PHX BY LATE TONIGHT.
STILL HAVE NOT SEEN ANY SIG ORGANIZATION TO THIS YET.

COUNTING ON SIG EVENT TODAY HAVE LOWERED POPS FOR TUE...ALTHOUGH
THIS MAY NOT HOLD TRUE WITH ALL THE DYNAMICS ALSO AVAILABLE.

TUS 5333

TUS...FLASH FLOOD WATCH ZONES 21-26 TIL 1000 PM MST.

HOLBROOK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 7, 5:13 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise, Pima47 min
Jul 7, 5:13 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise, Pima47 min
Jul 7, 6:00 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise60 min
Jul 7, 6:58 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima2 hr
Jul 7, 7:16 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima44 min
Jul 7, 7:16 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima44 min
Jul 7, 8:04 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima56 min
Jul 8, 2:40 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCSanta Cruz2 hr
Jul 8, 2:44 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima61 min
Jul 8, 2:44 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima61 min
Jul 8, 3:26 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima, Santa Cruz49 min
Jul 8, 3:48 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima57 min
Jul 8, 3:48 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima57 min
Jul 8, 3:55 PM MSTTornado WarningTWCPima35 min
Jul 8, 4:16 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise59 min
Jul 8, 4:30 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCSanta Cruz45 min
Jul 8, 4:30 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCSanta Cruz45 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.