Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996
Flash Flood Warning 59, NWS Tucson, AZ
NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 18, 1996, 1:36 PM MST for Pima County, Santa Cruz County, Arizona. It was in force for 2 hr. 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 18, 1996, 1:36 PM MST (20:36 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 18, 1996, 3:45 PM MST
- In force
- 2 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Tucson, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Pima County, AZ, Santa Cruz County, AZ
The nearest sounding before it
Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 56 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 194 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -226 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1833 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 7 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 2 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 95 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTUS 182033 FFWTUS AZC019-023-182245- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA 136 PM MST SUN AUG 18 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA ...SOUTHERN PIMA COUNTY...SOUTHERN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY AT 125 PM DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING SLOWLY SOUTH ACROSS SANTA CRUZ COUNTY AND FAR SOUTHERN PIMA COUNTY NEAR AMADO AND ARIVACA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE PRODUCED OVER AN INCH OF RAIN IN THE LAST HOUR. MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING 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.
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 18, 9:26 AM MST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 9:26 AM MST, 4 hours 10 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 930 AM MST SUN AUG 18 1996 PHX SOUNDING DRY EXCEPT FOR LOW LVL MSTR BUT WE STILL HAVE PLENTY OF MSTR IN TUS...WITH POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE AND FLOODING. GULF SURGE STILL ONGOING...WHERE THE MSTR IS GOING WHO KNOWS. THIS IS THE SECOND DAY OF A SURGE AND HISTORICALLY TUS AREA GETS STORMS. ON SAT GULF SURGE MSTR ACTUALLY COOLED TUS VALLEY LIMITING TSTMS. TODAY WE WILL HAVE TO OVERCOME COOLING FROM OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM LAST NIGHTS STORMS BUT CLEARING NOW TAKING PLACE SO THIS WONT BE A PROBLEM. RADAR STILL ON VACATION AND USING PHX AGAIN. H5 ANAL SHOWED 40M HGHT FALLS AT NKX WITH WEST WIND...THIS MAY PUT A LITTLE ROTATION IN STORMS TODAY. TUS 443. HOLBROOK
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tucson, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 6:45 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Cochise | 30 min |
| Aug 17, 6:45 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Cochise | 30 min |
| Aug 17, 7:06 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Cochise | 99 min |
| Aug 17, 8:07 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Cochise | 68 min |
| Aug 17, 8:07 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Cochise | 68 min |
| Aug 17, 8:37 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Cochise | 38 min |
| Aug 17, 8:54 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Cochise | 81 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.