Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 53, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 16, 1996Santa Cruz County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 16, 1996, 1:06 PM MST for Santa Cruz County, Arizona. It was in force for 69 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
Aug 16, 1996, 1:06 PM MST (20:06 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1996, 2:15 PM MST
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Santa Cruz County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:09 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, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 72 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 1996-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 163 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 1996-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -95 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
163 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-349 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2512 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-41 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 162004
FFWTUS
AZC023-162115-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
106 PM MST FRI AUG 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
 
AT 100 PM...TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM
WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN NEAR HWY 83 BETWEEN NOGALES AND SIERRA
VISTA...NEAR PARKER CANYON LAKE.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE
SOUTH AT 5 MPH...TOWARDS THE MEXICAN BORDER.  RADAR  HAS ESTIMATED
RAINFALL RATES OVER ONE INCH PER HOUR FROM THIS STORM.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.

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 Aug 16, 9:23 AM MST, 3 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 9:23 AM MST, 3 hours 43 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
930 AM MST FRI AUG 16 1996

TREND LUKS TO BE UP WITH TROF IN POSITION FOR ANOTHER GULF SURGE.
WILL NOT CHANGE AM FCST BUT WILL >PROBABLY UP POPS FOR SAT IN AFTN
PACKAGE. WILL SEE MORE STORMS TODAY BUT THEY WILL HAVE A TOUGH
TIME GETTING OFF MTNS.

WILL BE CHANGING TO NEW HAWK SYSTEM TODAY SO AFOS MAY BE DOWN A
WHILE THRU EARLY AFTN. TUS 222. HOLBROOK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 1:45 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCSanta Cruz75 min
Aug 16, 2:45 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCSanta Cruz60 min
Aug 16, 3:28 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima62 min
Aug 16, 4:08 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise, Pima67 min
Aug 16, 4:57 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima63 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.