Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 85, NWS Tucson, AZ

September 3, 1996Pima County, Santa Cruz County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 3, 1996, 6:46 AM MST for Pima County, Santa Cruz County, Arizona. It was in force for 74 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
Sep 3, 1996, 6:46 AM MST (13:46 UTC)
Expired
Sep 3, 1996, 8:00 AM MST
In force
74 min
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, 1.8 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tuscon, AZ at 12:00Z on 1996-09-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1155 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 1996-09-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1155 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1425 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
72 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 031347
FFWTUS
AZC019-023-031445-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
646 AM MST TUE SEP 3 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 AM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...EASTERN PIMA COUNTY...SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
 
AT 643 AM DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
DELIVERING FLOODING RAINS THROUGHOUT EASTERN PIMA COUNTY. THESE STORMS
WERE MOVING SOUTH AT ABOUT 15 MPH AND INTO SANTA CRUZ COUNTY. FLOODING
EXPERIENCED IN THE TUCSON AREA AND OTHER AREAS OF EASTERN PIMA COUNTY IS
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE WITH MORE STORMS FORMING. WITH THESE CONDITIONS
CONTINUING AND MOVING INTO SANTA CRUZ COUNTY...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING
HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 8 AM AND EXPANDED TO INCLUDE SANTA CRUZ COUNTY.
 
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.
 
MEYER

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 Sep 3, 1:57 AM MST, 4 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 3, 1:57 AM MST, 4 hours 49 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
215 AM MST TUE SEP 3 1996

A RELATIVELY QUIET DAY YDA FOR THESE PARTS...TEMPS HAD A HARD
TIME WITH PREVIOUS DAYS RAINFALL...THINGS A BIT MORE STBL. TEMPS
SHUD REBOUND NICELY TDA WITH A LTL BETTER AFTN CONVECTION. SLY
FLOW CONTS IN LWR LVLS AT YUM...DEWPT HOPPED BACK UP TO 70 AT
07Z. MDLS CONT RECENT TREND WITH TRANSIENT 4 CRNRS HIGH CNTR
SHIFTING EWD WITH RDG AS PAC NW LOW / TROF MOVES ONSHORE. THIS
SHUD ENHANCE SLY FLOW FOR A TIME ALL ON ITS OWN. A COUPLE THINGS
TO FACTOR INTO THIS. FIRST...TS ELIDA SHOWING A TRACK N-NW JUST
MISSING TIP OF BAJA PENINSULA TO W AND STRENGTHENING. A DEFINITE
HELP PUMPING MSTR INTO GULF AND NWD. ANOTHER ITEM...BOTH ETA AND
NGM SHOW VORT SHIFTING INTO NRN GULF WITH THE NGM SUBSEQUENTLY
WASHING IT OUT WHILE ETA BRINGS IT INTO SW AZ AT 48 HRS.
REGARDLESS...AVN SEEMS TO HAVE THE RIGHT IDEA WITH INCRG MSTR BY
THURSDAY WITH NR 70 PERCENT MEAN RH. WX TREND SHUD BE UPWARD
BEFORE ANY POTENTIAL DRYING FROM W MUCH LATER. A FEW TWEAKS WITH
NO MAJOR CHGS. TUS 122. MEYER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 3, 5:24 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima66 min
Sep 3, 5:24 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima66 min
Sep 3, 5:52 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima58 min
Sep 3, 5:52 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima58 min
Sep 3, 7:57 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima93 min
Sep 3, 9:30 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima60 min
Sep 3, 3:59 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise46 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.