Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 30, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 15, 1996Graham County, Greenlee County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 15, 1996, 3:00 PM MST for Graham County, Greenlee County, Arizona. It was in force for 90 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 15, 1996, 3:00 PM MST (22:00 UTC)
Expired: Jul 15, 1996, 4:30 PM MST
In force: 90 min
Issued by: NWS Tucson, AZ
Area: Whole counties

Counties Graham County, AZ, Greenlee County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 165 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:04 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, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 161 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 69 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -65 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 889 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 20 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 152200
FFWTUS
AZC009-011-152330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
300 PM MST MON JUL 15 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST ARIZONA
 
   ...EXTREME EAST-CENTRAL GRAHAM COUNTY...SOUTHERN GREENLEE COUNTY
 
AT 255 PM TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WAS LOCATED ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CLIFTON
OVER THE NORTHERN END OF THE PELONCILLO MOUNTAINS. HEAVY RAIN CAN BE
EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT HOUR BETWEEN SOLOMON AND GUTHRIE.
 
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.
 
COLLINS

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 15, 2:22 PM MST, 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 15, 2:22 PM MST, 38 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
220 PM MST MON JUL 15 1996

VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS OVER SE AZ WITH PW VALUES OVER
1.50 INCHES. WITH WINDS UNDER 15 KTS UP TO 40K FEET STORMS WILL
BE SLOW MOVERS AND HEAVY RAIN PRODUCERS. THEREFORE HAVE ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 9 PM THIS EVENING FOR ALL OF SE AZ.
MODELS FOR THE 3RD RUN IN A ROW INICATING A DRYING TREND
BEGINNING TUE AS PAC NW UPR TROF PUSHES UPR HIGH EWD ALLOWING A
DRIER SWLY FLOW TO FILTER INTO SE AZ. HOWEVER FAIS DATA INDICATES
MOST OF THIS DRYING TO BE ABOVE 600 MB WITH THE LOWER LEVLS
REMAINING SUFFICIENTLY MOIST TO SUPPORT TSTM DEVELOPMENT. STILL
ENOUGH MOISTURE TUE FOR SCT ACTIVITY ALL ZONES THEN ON WED
ADDITIONAL DRYING WILL REDUCE AREAL COVERAGE OF TSTMS SO WILL
DROP POPS TO WDLY SCT WRN ZONES TO SCT ERN ZONES. IN THE 3-5 DAY
PERIOD STG UPR HIGH CENTERED OVER THE MIDWEST WITH SELY FLOW OVER
SE AZ SO AT LEAST WDLY SCT TSTMl ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE
END OF THE WEEK. COLLINS

TUS...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF SE AZ UNTIL 9 PM TONIGHT.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 14, 5:03 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	TWC	Cochise	87 min
Jul 14, 6:05 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	TWC	Cochise	85 min
Jul 14, 6:30 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	TWC	Cochise	30 min
Jul 14, 7:27 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	TWC	Pinal	2 hr
Jul 14, 8:05 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	TWC	Pima	115 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1996 Every 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.