Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996
Flash Flood Warning 87, NWS Tucson, AZ
NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 3, 1996, 9:30 AM 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
- Sep 3, 1996, 9:30 AM MST (16:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 3, 1996, 10:30 AM MST
- In force
- 60 min
- 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 16:31 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, 4.5 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTUS 031629 FFWTUS AZC019-031730- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA 930 AM MST TUE SEP 3 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 AM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA ...EASTERN PIMA COUNTY AT 925 AM...TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW VERY HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUING FROM NORTHWEST TUCSON SOUTHWEST TO THE THREE POINTS AREA. MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS IS TO THE WEST-SOUTHWEST AROUND 15 MPH. RAINFALL ACROSS THE REST OF METRO TUCSON IS EITHER LIGHT OR HAS DIMINISHED COMPLETELY. WIDESPREAD FLOODING THOUGH CONTINUES ACROSS PARTS OF METRO TUCSON...THUS THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR EASTERN PIMA COUNTY HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 1030 AM. AGAIN...WIDESPREAD FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED IN TUCSON WITH MANY RESCUES IN AND AROUND FLOODED WASHES. FLOODED ROADS AND DIVERSIONS AROUND FLOODED AREAS HAVE LED TO WIDESPREAD TRAFFIC PROBLEMS THIS MORNING. GLUECK
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, 9:26 AM MST, 4 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 3, 9:26 AM MST, 4 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 930 AM MST TUE SEP 3 1996 WHAT A MORNING! UP TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN REPORTED OVER THE TUS METRO AREA THIS MORNING WITH MANY REPORTS OF FLOODING AND STRANDED MOTORISTS. OUTFLOW FROM CONVECTION OVER THE RIM LAST EVENING COLLIDED WITH A VERY UNSTABLE AMS OVER THE AREA CAUSING EXPLOSIVE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. TUS SOUNDING WHICH WAS TAKEN JUST BEFORE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED WAS EXTREMELY UNSTABLE WITH LI 0F -6 CAPE AROUND 2000 J/KG. SOUNDING SHOWED A SUBSTANTIAL MOISTURE INCREASE FROM LAST EVENING AT THE LOWER LEVELS FROM CONTINUING GULD SURGE. AMS WAS JUST WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO GIVE IT A LITTLE LIFT IN ORDER TO EXPLODE. GULF SURGE STILL CONTINUING SO SEE LITTLE REASON WHY AMS WONT STAY VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE NEXT FEW DAYS. THIS ALONG WITH DEVELOPING PAC NW TROF TURNING UPPER FLOW TO A SLY DIRECTION AND POSSIBLY BRINGING UP MOISTURE FROM T.S. ELIDA COULD MAKE THE REST OF THE WEEK A VERY ACTIVE ONE. WITH ALL THE RAIN THIS MORNING ACROSS ZONES 21/23 STABLIZING AMS EXPECT THIS AFTERNOON TO BE FAIRLY BENEIGN THIS AREA AND MAX TEMPS TO BE COOLER THAN CURRENT FORECASTS. TUS 322. COLLINS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tucson, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3, 5:24 AM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Pima | 66 min |
| Sep 3, 5:24 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima | 66 min |
| Sep 3, 5:52 AM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Pima | 58 min |
| Sep 3, 5:52 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima | 58 min |
| Sep 3, 6:46 AM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Pima, Santa Cruz | 74 min |
| Sep 3, 7:57 AM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Pima | 93 min |
| Sep 3, 3:59 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Cochise | 46 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.