Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 65, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 21, 1996Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 21, 1996, 3:58 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 62 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, 3:58 PM MST (22:58 UTC)
Expired
Aug 21, 1996, 5:00 PM MST
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pinal County, AZ

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:59 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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 92 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 212259 COR
FFWTUS
AZC021-220000-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING...CORRECTED FOR WARNING TYPE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
358 PM MST WED AUG 21 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN PINAL COUNTY
 
AT 355 PM...TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR SHOWS A STRONG THUDERSTORM WITH
VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER EASTERN PINAL COUNTY. THE STORM WAS LOCATED
ABOUT 15 MILES EAST OF FLORENCE AND MOVING VERY LITTLE.  HEAVY
RAIN ALSO EXTENDS TO THE SOUTH TOWARD MARANA CROSSING HIGHWAY
79 IN SOUTHEAST PINAL COUNTY.
 
OVER 1.5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ON HIGHWAY 79 BETWEEN ORACLE
JUNCTION AND COOLIDGE.  HEAVY RAIN MAY CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER
THE AREA BEFORE 5 PM.
 
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.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
DRB

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, 2:48 PM MST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 2:48 PM MST, 1 hour 10 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
240 PM MST WED AUG 21 1996

CONVECTION STARTED EARLY TODAY SO THINK MOST ACTIVITY WILL END
BY EARLY EVENING MOST AREAS DUE TO AIR MASS STABILIZING FROM
EARLIER STORMS. AIR MASS WILL REMAIN MOIST AND UNSTABLE NEXT
SEVERAL DAYS WITH CONTINUED SOUTHERLY FLOW. THUS WILL GO WITH
STANDARD MONSOON FORECAST NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. TUS 2222. CEC/DS

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 MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima60 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 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.