Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 63, NWS Tucson, AZ
NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 31, 1996, 1:25 PM MST for Cochise County, Arizona. It was in force for 50 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 31, 1996, 1:25 PM MST (20:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 31, 1996, 2:15 PM MST
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tucson, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cochise County, AZ
The radar
The Tucson radar (KEMX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:27 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, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 113 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
- 410 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -240 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2820 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 6 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 11 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 312024 SVRTUS AZC003-312115- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA 125 PM MST WED JUL 31 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 215 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST ARIZONA ...EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN COCHISE COUNTY AT 125 PM MST...TUCSON RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER THE CORONADO NATIONAL MONUMENT...WHICH IS 12 MILES SOUTH OF SIERRA VISTA. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST..NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 10 MPH TOWARD HIGHWAY 92. WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DON'T USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS. DRB
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 31, 9:28 AM MST, 3 hours 57 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 9:28 AM MST, 3 hours 57 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 930 AM MST WED JUL 31 1996 HIGH PRESSURE IN THE MID LEVELS REMAINS CENTERED OVER SOUTHEAST ARIZONA WHILE THE 12Z SOUNDING AT TUCSON SHOWED FURTHER DRYING FROM YESTERDAY. THE SOUNDING STILL CONTAINS SOME INSTABILITY PRIMARILY TO FAIRLY COOL MID-LEVEL TEMPERATURES. NORTHWESTERLIES WILL KICK IN BY 11 AM AND AS A RESULT FURTHER DRYING IS ANTICIPATED ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. ONLY EXPECT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN WITH VERY LITTLE PRECIP AND WITH A FEW STRONG MICROBURST TYPE STORMS. ANTICIPATE ANOTHER BACK DOOR STYLE COLD FRONT TO MOVE INTO NEW MEXICO AND NORTHERN MEXICO OVER THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS. THIS SUGGESTS THE MID-LEVEL SUBTROPICAL RIDGE WILL AMPLIFY OVER THE WEST AND TREND TOWARD A PATTERN TYPE 2. HOWEVER...MODELS KEEP THE CENTER OF A FAIRLY STRONG RIDGE OVER ARIZONA AND A TYPE 2 PATTERN NEVER REALLY DEVELOPS. IF THE MODELS ARE CORRECT WE MAY BE IN FOR A DRY SPELL ACROSS MUCH OF ARIZONA. HOPEFULLY MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH HURRICANE DOUGLAS HELPS TO FORM A LARGE MCS NEAR AND OVER THE SOUTHERN GULF OF CALIFORNIA. WITH THE BACK DOOR COLD FRONT IN MEXICO ENHANCING SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW A SURGE IS POSSIBLE BY LATE THURSDAY OR FRIDAY...BUT...A LOT OF THINGS MUST COME TOGETHER...HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE. ON ANOTHER NOTE...DID ANYONE NOTICE THE HEAT INDEX IN GUAYMAS YESTERDAY? IT WENT UP TO 133 DEGREES...MAKES HOUSTON SOUND COOL. TUS 000. MCCOLLUM
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tucson, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 12:34 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Cochise, Santa Cruz | 41 min |
| Jul 31, 2:10 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima, Santa Cruz | 50 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.