Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 79, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 31, 1996Cochise County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 31, 1996, 10:26 PM MST for Cochise 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 31, 1996, 10:26 PM MST (05:26 UTC)
Expired
Sep 1, 1996, 12:30 AM MST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Cochise County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:25 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, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 113 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 1996-09-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1326 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 00:00Z on 1996-09-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 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
1326 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-49 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2430 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 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 010526
FFWTUS
AZC003-010730-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
1026 PM MST SAT AUG 31 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 AM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST ARIZONA
 
   ...SOUTHWESTERN COCHISE COUNTY
 
AT 1020 PM TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A STRONG THUNDERSTORM
4 MILES EAST OF HUACHUCA CITY SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 82. STORM MOVEMENT WAS TO
THE SOUTH AT ABOUT 5 MPH.
 
RADAR RAINFALL ESTIMATES OF 2.0 TO 3.0 INCHES IN LESS THAN AN HOUR WERE
BEING OBSERVED WITH THIS STORM ALONG HIGHWAY 82. THIS STORM IS SLOWLY
MOVING TOWARD HUACHUCA CITYh AND HIGHWAY 90 AND WILL AFFECT THESE
LOCATIONS FOR THE NEXT HOUR WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN.
 
DO NOT DRIVE TRAVEL UNTIL THIS STORM HAS PASSED THE AREA CONDITIONS ARE
LIKELY EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS.
 
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 31, 8:54 PM MST, 1 hour 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 8:54 PM MST, 1 hour 32 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
900 PM MST SAT AUG 31 1996

LARGE COMPLEX DEVELOPED JUST ACRS BORDER S OF OLS AFTN AND SHOWED
LTL MVMT. PROPAGATED NWD INTO AZ.  LOW LVLS QUITE WET. 00Z TUS
SNDG SHOWD DRIER AIR...INVERSION AND LARGE CIN AT H7. THIS LIKELY
TO STG FOR LWR ELEVATIONS TO OVRCOME.  TSTMS DEVELOPED
OVR HIER TERRAIN OF ERN ZNS. SOME REACHED SVR LIMITS WITH 55K
FT ECHO TOPS AND 2-3 INCH STORM TOTAL PCPN. SUN...LOW LVL MSTR
NOT GOING ANYWHERE. TROF IN CA. NEW ETA PUTS UPR HI OVR SWRN AZ
WITH WK W-NWLY WINDS. THIS MAY CREATE SOME UPR LVL COOLING MORE
FAVORABLE FOR TSTMS.  MON...MODELS PUSHES HI INTO NM WITH SLY
WINDS OVR AZ. MADE MINOR FIRST PD UPDATES. TUS 111.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 31, 5:03 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCSanta Cruz57 min
Aug 31, 5:03 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCSanta Cruz57 min
Aug 31, 5:49 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCGraham56 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.