Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 31, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 25, 1996Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 25, 1996, 2:45 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 60 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 25, 1996, 2:45 PM MST (21:45 UTC)
Expired: Jul 25, 1996, 3:45 PM MST
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS Tucson, AZ
Area: Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:48 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, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 84 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: 678 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -189 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2322 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 28 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUS 252145
FFWTUS
AZC019-252245-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
245 PM MST THU JUL 25 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY
 
AT 240 PM TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT VEY HEAVY RAIN
CONTINUES ACROSS CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY. RADAR ESTIMATES ABOUT
TWO TO THREE INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN 5 TO 15 MILES NORTH OF
SELLS AND BETWEEN SELLS AND KITT PEAK. HIGHWAY 86 ALSO RUNS
THROUGH THIS AREA.
 
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.
 
GLUECK

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 25, 2:22 PM MST, 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 25, 2:22 PM MST, 23 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
220 PM MST THU JUL 25 1996

AT 21Z TUS DEW PT STILL HOLDG AT 17C WITH CONVECTION DEVELOPG
ALQDS. AS PER MORNING DISCUSSION...STG DOWNBURST WIND AND FLASH
FLOODING STILL PSBL OVR ALL OF CWA TGNT. ALL MODELS TENDG TO MOV
UPR HI TO 4 CORNERS AREA FRI AND SAT.  THIS TO PRODUCE SELY FLOW
AT H5. THIS PSBLY TO INCR MSTR FROM MEXICO. NGM FCST SOUNDG FOR
FRI SIMILAR TO TDA...XCP WETTER WITH PW MUCH HIER AT 1.8. ALSO
FCST CAPE GTR THAN 2000 ALONG MEX BORDER W OF OLS. THUS ANOTHER
ROUND OF SVR LIKELY.  MIN TEMPS WILL DEPEND ON LOCATION OF TSTMS
AND OUTFLOWS.  EXPECT MINS IN ZN23 TO DROP ANYWHERE FROM 3-8
DEGREES TGNT.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 25, 2:29 PM MST, 16 minutes before

AZZ026-252200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
232 PM MST THU JUL 25 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR NORTHWEST COCHISE COUNTY WAS
ALLOWED TO EXPIRE AT 230 PM...

AT 225 PM TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM NEAR BENSON HAS WEAKENED BELOW SEVERE LIMITS.
MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS IS TO THE SOUTH AROUND 10 MPH AND WILL
CONTINUE TOWARD ST. DAVID BY 245 PM. A SPOTTER NEAR BENSON REPORTED
ONE INCH DIAMETER HAIL FROM THIS STORM.

ADDITIONAL SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE FROM THIS STORM AS IT
CONTINUES TO MOVE SOUTN ACROSS WEST-CENTRAL COCHISE COUNTY.

GLUECK

&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 24, 6:44 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Cochise, Graham	61 min
Jul 25, 12:19 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Cochise	41 min
Jul 25, 1:05 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Pinal	40 min
Jul 25, 1:26 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Cochise	64 min
Jul 25, 2:10 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Pima, Santa Cruz	65 min
Jul 25, 2:15 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Pima	60 min
Jul 25, 3:15 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Pima	60 min
Jul 25, 3:52 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Pima	68 min
Jul 25, 4:02 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	TWC	Pima	58 min
Jul 25, 4:46 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Pinal	59 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.