Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 5, 1996Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 5, 1996, 3:45 PM 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: Jul 5, 1996, 3:45 PM MST (22:45 UTC)
Expired: Jul 5, 1996, 4:45 PM 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 22:46 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, 10.8 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 617 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -201 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2123 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 14 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 052248
SVRTUS
AZC019-052345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
345 PM MST FRI JUL 5 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...SOUTH CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY
 
AT 345 PM...TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE STORMS
CONTINUE TO MOVE WESTWARD THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY. THE
LINE OF SEVERE STORMS IS LOCATED FROM 12 MILES EAST OF SAN MIGUEL
TO 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF KITT PEAK.
 
THE LINE IS MOVING WEST AT 20 TO 25 MPH TOWARD SAN MIGUEL AND
KITT PEAK.  THE LINE WILL REACH SELLS BETWEEN 430 PM TO 445 PM.
 
TORRENTIAL RAINFALL...DAMAGING WIND...AND INTENSE LIGHTNING
HAS BEEN REPORTED FROM THESE STORMS.
 
THIS IS DANGEROUS STORM.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD SEEK SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 5, 2:23 PM MST, 1 hour 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 5, 2:23 PM MST, 1 hour 22 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
220 PM MST FRI JUL 5 1996

SAT...H5 HI MOVS BACK TO 4 CORNERS AREA WITH E-SELY WINDS OVR
AREA. NGM NOT BLDG HI AS STG AS ETA. H7 HI NR TUS WITH LGT NLY
WINDS. MEAN RH 40-50 PCT AND SEE NO BIG CHG IN LOW LVL MSTR.
MOS DEW PTS AND POPS SIMILAR TO TDA. ETA KEEPS BIG CAPES S OF
BORDER...WITH LESS THAN 1000 ACRS CWA. SO WILL KEEP CURRENT
POPS.  SUN...AVN KEEPS UPR HI NR 4 CORNERS dWITH ELY WINDS AND
MEAN RH 30 PCT.  MOS TRENDG FOR SLGHTLY LWR POPS.  WILL KEEP
SCT-WDLY SCT TSTMS ACRS CWA.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 4, 5:07 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Cochise, Santa Cruz	53 min
Jul 5, 1:28 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Santa Cruz	47 min
Jul 5, 2:38 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Pima, Santa Cruz	67 min
Jul 5, 3:56 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Cochise	49 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1996 Every severe thunderstorm 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.