Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 63, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 21, 1996Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 21, 1996, 2:30 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
Aug 21, 1996, 2:30 PM MST (21:30 UTC)
Expired
Aug 21, 1996, 3:30 PM MST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tuscon, AZ at 12:00Z on 1996-08-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 707 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 1996-08-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -36 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
707 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-148 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2032 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-23 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 212127
FFWTUS
AZC019-212230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
230 PM MST WED AUG 21 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...EASTERN PIMA COUNTY...INCLUDES THE TUCSON METRO AREA...
 
AT 225 PM MST...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A COUPLE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IN EASTERN PIMA COUNTY...ONE ALONG I-10 SOUTH OF TUCSON
AND ANOTHER ALONG THE CATALINAS NORTH OF TUCSON. BOTH WERE PRODUCING
VERY HEAVY RAIN AND ONE HAD ALREADY PRODUCED SOME SMALL HAIL. THESE
CELLS MAY MERGE AND PRODUCE EVEN MORE PROBLEMS BETWEEN NOW AND 330 PM.
 
GENERALLY THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SLOWLY TOWARD THE NORTH.  BOTH
OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY IMPACT PORTIONS OF THE TUCSON METRO AREA AND
ANYONE IN THEIR VICINITY SHOULD TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS.
 
SHOGREN
 
 
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
ABANDONnED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

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 21, 9:27 AM MST, 5 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 9:27 AM MST, 5 hours 3 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
930 AM MST WED AUG 21 1996

MOIST AND UNSTABLE AMS CONTINUES ACORSS SE AZ WITH BEST MOISTURE
OVER THE ERN ZONES. AMS WILL REMIAN MOIST AS AIRFLOW REMAINS FROM
THE SOUTH. CURRENT FORECASTS OF WDLY SCT TSTMS WRN ZONES TO SCT
TSTMS ERN ZONES LOOK GOOD. NO UPDATES PLANNED. TUS 222. COLLINS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 20, 6:04 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCGraham26 min
Aug 21, 1:45 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise, Graham60 min
Aug 21, 1:45 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise, Graham60 min
Aug 21, 2:30 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima60 min
Aug 21, 2:43 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise62 min
Aug 21, 2:43 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise62 min
Aug 21, 3:58 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPinal62 min
Aug 21, 3:58 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal62 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.