Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 35, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 27, 1996Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 27, 1996, 2:19 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 56 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 27, 1996, 2:19 PM MST (21:19 UTC)
Expired: Jul 27, 1996, 3:15 PM MST
In force: 56 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 21:21 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, 9.3 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: 194 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -226 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2290 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 13 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 272118
FFWTUS
AZC019-272215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
219 PM MST SAT JUL 27 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN PIMA COUNTY
 
AT 215 PM TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WITH EXTREMELY HEAVY RAINFALL AND INTENSE LIGHTNING IN THE
CATALINA MOUNTAINS.  A RAIN GAGE HAS INDICATED ABOUT ONE AND
A HALF INCHES OF RAINFALL IN 30 MINUTES NEAR PALISADES AND
SUMMERHAVEN. RADAR HAS INDICATED AREAS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES OVER
AREAS OF THE CATALINA HWY. THESE STORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE INTENSE
LIGHTNING AND VERY STORNG WIND.
 
MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.b  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A
SMALL ONE...ON FOOT.

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 27, 9:23 AM MST, 4 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 27, 9:23 AM MST, 4 hours 56 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
920 AM MST SAT JUL 27 1996

SPC HAS ENTIRE CWA IN SLGT CHC AREA.  THIS GOOD...AS 12Z TUS
SOUNDG WETTER AND MORE UNSTABLE THAN YDA...BUT NOT AS STG AS THU.
PW 1.2. SFC DEW PT 3 DEGREES HIER THAN YDA. HI LVL CI MOVG INTO
TUS FROM MEXICAN CONVECTION LAST NGT. AND MAY SEE SOME LOW LVL
MSTR ALSO. WITH SLY FLOW...NOT LIKELY TO SEE TSTMS MOVE INTO THE
AREA FROM THE RIM. IS THERE ENUF LOW LVL MSTR FOR TSTMS TO MOV
OFF LCL MTS INTO VALLEY FLOOR? PRBLY NOT UNTIL AFT 5 PM...SO WILL
DOWN PLAY POPS TDA AND UP THEM FOR TGNT. USING A MEAN MIXING
RATIO OF 9.5 PRODUCES A CAPE OF 500-1000 AT TUS. WITH A DEEP
NEARLY ADIABATIC LAYER...SVR DOWNBURST WIND AND LCL HVY RAIN
PSBL. UPR LOW STILL PRODUCG LOTS OF LIGHTNING IN SRN CA...BUT MAY
NOT AFFECT TUS CWA. SUN...DEEPENG LOW NRN PLAINS STATES PUSHG UPR
HI BACK TO WRN NM.  NEW ETA PUT STG 597 HI OVR W CNTRL NM.  IF A
HI THIS STG CONTINUES TO BACK INTO AZ IT WOULD SUPPRESS
CONVECTION.  NEW NGM FOLLOWING TREND OF MOVG HI BACK OVR AZ...BUT
HGTS NOT AS STG. WILL BACK OFF ON POPS SLGHTLY. BUT ATTM...FEEL
S-SELY FLOW TO CONTINUE LOW GRADE MONSOON WITH WDLY SCT IN W AND
SCT IN ERN ZNS. TUS 2323.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 27, 12:49 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Santa Cruz	56 min
Jul 27, 1:54 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Pima	66 min
Jul 27, 2:19 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Pima	56 min
Jul 27, 3:15 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	TWC	Pima	60 min
Jul 27, 3:15 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Pima	60 min
Jul 27, 4:22 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	TWC	Pima	68 min
Jul 27, 4:22 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Pima	68 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.