Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 40, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 12, 1996Greenlee County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 12, 1996, 2:23 PM MST for Greenlee County, Arizona. It was in force for 52 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 12, 1996, 2:23 PM MST (21:23 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 1996, 3:15 PM MST
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Greenlee County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 196 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:24 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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 194 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 1996-07-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 76 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 1996-07-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 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
76 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-176 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2026 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
54 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 122123
SVRTUS
AZC011-122215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
223 PM MST FRI JUL 12 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST ARIZONA
 
   ...NORTHERN GREENLEE COUNTY
 
AT 220 PM MST TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HANNAGAN MEADOW. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
MOVING NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH. THE HANNAGAN MEADOW WILL BE AFFECTED BY
THIS STORM WITHIN THE NEXT HALF HOUR.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 57
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIG
HTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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 12, 9:25 AM MST, 4 hours 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 9:25 AM MST, 4 hours 58 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
925 AM MST FRI JUL 12 1996

VSBL PICS SHOWG DEBRIS CLDNS CONTG TO SLOLY DSIPT FM E-W WITH
MAIN DECK MNLY OVR ZNS21/23 AS OF 16Z. 12Z TUS SNDG A LTL DRIER
AND WRMR AT LOW-LVLS WITH SGFNT DRYG BTWN H7-H5 THAN FM 12Z YTDY
BUT PW VALUES RMN VRY HIGH. ACTION AGN TDY FIRING UP FIRST OFF
HIER TRNN ERN ZNS WITH STG GUSTY WNDS AND THREAT OF LCLZD FLOODG
AGN PSBL TDY DUE TO SLO MOVG STORMS. CURRENT FCSTS LUK OK.
TUS 3434. GLUECK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 11, 5:51 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise2 hr
Jul 12, 3:20 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCGreenlee40 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1996Every 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.