Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 41, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 12, 1996Greenlee County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 12, 1996, 3:20 PM MST for Greenlee County, Arizona. It was in force for 40 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, 3:20 PM MST (22:20 UTC)
Expired: Jul 12, 1996, 4:00 PM MST
In force: 40 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 22:24 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, 10.3 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-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: 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 122219
SVRTUS
AZC011-122300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
320 PM MST FRI JUL 12 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST ARIZONA
 
   ...CENTRAL GREENLEE COUNTY
 
AT 317 PM TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF CLIFTON MOVING NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORM WILL
MOVE INTO THE MORENCI AREA WITHIN THE NEXT HALF HOUR. RESIDENTS IN
CENTRAL GREENLEE COUNTY SHOULD ALSO BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY RISING WATER IN
LOW WATER CROSSINGS AND LOW LYING AREAS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
 
HOzLBROOK

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, 2:25 PM MST, 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 2:25 PM MST, 55 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
225 PM MST FRI JUL 12 1996

1KM VSBL PICS SHOWG WK CIRLN..PRBLY ARND H7 SINCE IT DOES NOT
SHOW UP ON WV IMAGERY..CONTS TO MOV NW TWD SWRN AZ WITH CONTD
SELY FLO ACRS ZN21. THIS HAS KEPT PLENTY OF MID-LVL CLDNS ACRS
ZN21 THRUT TDY. OTRW..CVNTN POPPING UP OVR HIER TRRN ACRS RMNDR
OF CWA WHERE CLDS DEBRIS CLDNS DSIPTD. 88D SHOWG STG/PSBLY SVR
TRW- MOVG INTO ZN25/ERN ZN24 NR AZ/NM BDR. FOCUS OF SCT ACTION
AGN TNGT WL BE OVR ERN ZNS WHERE AMS IS MUCH MR UNSTBL. STG GSTY
WINDS AND THREAT OF LCLZD FLOODG AGN PSBL TNGT DUE TO SLO MOVG
STORMS.

WL SEE LESS ACTVTY TNGT ZNS 21>23 DUE TO DRIER LOW-LVLS. AMS NOT
AS UNSTBL AS IT IS ACRS ERN ZNS. SOME OF THE STORMS ACRS ERN ZNS
WL LIKLY PROPOGATE W TNGT. WL LWR POPS ZN21 DUE TO AFTN CVR.

NO BIG CHGS IN THE OFFING OVR THE WKND WITH UPR HI SOMEWHERE OVR
ERN AZ WITH AMS STILL RMNG MOIST AND UNSTBL. WL CONT SCT ACTVTY
OVR ERN ZNS OVR WKND WITH LESS ACTVTY OVR WRN ZN21. MDLS THROWING
OUT A CURVE ON TEMPS..ESPCLY SUN..WITH TEMPS ABT 2-4 DEGREES
COOLR THAN SAT. WL JUST FCST PERSISTENCE ON TEMPS OVR WKND.

TUS 2243. GLUECK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 11, 5:51 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	TWC	Cochise	2 hr
Jul 12, 2:23 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Greenlee	52 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.