Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 96, NWS Tucson, AZ

September 11, 1996Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 11, 1996, 2:08 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 67 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 11, 1996, 2:08 PM MST (21:08 UTC)
Expired
Sep 11, 1996, 3:15 PM MST
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pinal County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 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 1996-09-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 716 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 1996-09-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 14 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
716 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-70 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1307 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
15 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 112108
FFWTUS
AZC021-112215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
208 PM MST WED SEP 11 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...EXTREME SOUTHEAST PINAL COUNTY
 
AT 205 PM...TUCSON'S DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS
OCCURRING IN EXTREME SOUTHEAST PINAL COUNTY...PRIMARILY ALONG HIGHWAY 77
AND IN THE VICINITY OF ORACLE. AS MUCH AS THREE INCHES OF RAIN APPEARED
TO HAVE FALLEN IN SOME AREAS DURING THE LAST FEW HOURS AND OVER AN INCH
IN THE LAST HOUR. THE RESPONSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE
NORTH-NORTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.  LOCAL TRAVELERS AND THOSE
USING HIGHWAY 77 SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS.
 
SHOGREN
 
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.

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 11, 9:18 AM MST, 4 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 11, 9:18 AM MST, 4 hours 50 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
920 AM MST WED SEP 11 1996

SATELLITE PICTURES INDICATE VORT MAX OVR PINAL COUNTY ATTM MOVG
SLOLY EWD. NGM HAD BEST INITIAL ANALYSIS ON THIS FEATURE BUT A
TAD TOO FAR WEST. NGM MOVS THIS VORT MAX SEWD TO NEAR DUG AT 00Z
THIS AFTN WHICH WOULD BRING PRETTY ACTIVE WX TO OUR SERN
SECTIONS. WITH TUS SOUNDING SHOWING SLY WINDS AT ALL LEVELS
BELIEVE THIS VORT MAX WILL NOT MOVE SEWD INTO SE AZ PER NGM.
HOWEVER WATER VAPOR PICTURES SHOW A LITTLE CYCLONIC CIRCULATION
OVR NRN MEX SOUTH OF OLS WHICH COULD MOVE INTO SE AZ LATER TDA
AIDING TSTMS DEVELOPMENT. EVEN WITHOUT UPWARD FORCING FROM VORT
MAXS THERE IS ENOUGH MSTR AND INSTABILITY AROUND TO GET TSTMS
GOING TDA AS GOOD SOLAR HEATING WILL TAKE PLACE UNDER MOSTLY
SUNNY SKIES THIS MORNING SPCLY SRN SECTIONS. CANCELLED FLASH
FLOOD WATCH FOR SE PINAL AND GRAHAM COUNTIES AT 8 AM THIS MORNING
AS RADAR AND SATELLITE PICTURES INDICATED AREA OF SHWRS AND TSMTS
HAD MOVED NORTH OF THIS AREA.

NEW MODEL RUNS CONTINUE TO INDICATE OUR MONSOON WILL COME TO AN
END THIS WEEKEND AS STG PAC UPR TROF PUSHES ONTO WEST COAST
BRINGING A DRY WLY FLOW ACROSS SE AZ. NGM STRONGES AND FASTER
WITH THIS TROF HENCE BRING DRYING TREND IN FASTER WITH DRIER AIR
OVERSPREADING SE AZ AS EARLY AS FRI. THIS MIGHT BE A LITTLE TOO
FAST. SOMETHING TO FURTHER EVALUATE FOR AFTERNOON PACKAGE. ALSO
HURRICANE FAUSTO JUST OFF THE CENTRAL MEX CST MOVG NWWD BUT
MODELS KEEP ANY MOISTURE FROM THIS SYS TO OUR SOUTH AS DEVELOPING
UPR TROF MOVG IN TOO FAST TO ALLOW MSTR TO MOVE INTO AZ. CURRENT
FORECAST LOOK GOOD AND NO MAJOR UPDATED PLANNED. TUS 433. COLLINS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 11, 12:10 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPinal65 min
Sep 11, 12:10 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal65 min
Sep 11, 12:34 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise56 min
Sep 11, 12:34 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise56 min
Sep 11, 1:18 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPinal57 min
Sep 11, 1:18 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal57 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.