Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 76, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 30, 1996Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 30, 1996, 12:11 AM MST for Pima 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 30, 1996, 12:11 AM MST (07:11 UTC)
Expired
Aug 30, 1996, 2:15 AM MST
In force
2 hr
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 07:15 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 00:00Z, 7.2 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 00:00Z on 1996-08-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 868 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1996-08-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 2 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
868 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2548 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 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 300711
FFWTUS
AZC019-300915-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
1211 AM MST FRI AUG 30 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 AM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...NORTH CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY
 
AT 1205 PM TUCSON WEATHER RADAR INDICATED THAT A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING
INTENSE RAINFALL WAS LOCATED OVER NORTH CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY. PORTIONS OF
STATE ROUTE 15...20 MILES NORTH OF QUIJOTOA...ARE LIKELY UNDER WATER.
HIGHWAY 86 WEST OF QUIJOTOA WILL ALSO BE AFFECTED BY THIS STORM BEFORE
100 PM.
 
RADAR ESTIMATED RAINFALL TOTALS OF NEARLY 2.0 INCHES HAVE BEEN OBSERVED
WITH 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.
 
MCCOLLUM

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 29, 9:03 PM MST, 3 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 29, 9:03 PM MST, 3 hours 8 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
900 PM MST THU AUG 29 1996

SE PINAL AND NE PIMA COUNTY THE FOCUS FOR SVR TSTMS THIS EVENING.
THESE STORMS WILL CONTINUE AND PROPAGATE SWWD INTO THE EARLY
MORNING HOURS. TOO BUSY WITH SVR WX TO LOOK AT ANY NEW MODEL DATA
BUT CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS GOOD WITH SCT TSTMS TO CONTINUE NEXT
COUPLE OF DAYS AS GOOD LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE.
TUS 5232. COLLINS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 29, 6:16 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima, Pinal59 min
Aug 29, 7:11 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal64 min
Aug 29, 7:37 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPinal68 min
Aug 29, 7:37 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal68 min
Aug 29, 7:50 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima55 min
Aug 29, 7:50 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima55 min
Aug 29, 8:57 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPinal63 min
Aug 29, 8:57 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal63 min
Aug 29, 9:39 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima66 min
Aug 29, 9:39 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima66 min
Aug 29, 10:32 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCSanta Cruz58 min
Aug 29, 10:47 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima43 min
Aug 29, 11:21 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima, Santa Cruz69 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.