Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 69, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 11, 1996Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 11, 1996, 1:35 PM MST for Pima 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: Aug 11, 1996, 1:35 PM MST (20:35 UTC)
Expired: Aug 11, 1996, 2:15 PM MST
In force: 40 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 20:36 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, 8.6 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: 485 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -166 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1898 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 72 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 112034
SVRTUS
AZC019-112115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
135 PM MST SUN AUG 11 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 SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN PIMA COUNTY
 
AT 130 PM MST...TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPING JUST EAST OF ARIVACA MOVING WEST AROUND 10 MILES. THE TOWN
OF ARIVACA WILL SEE DAMAGING WINDS AND TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS DURING THE
NEXT 30 MINUTES.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD PREPARE
FOR DAMAGING WIND IN E>XCESS OF 57 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...PREFERABLY INSIDE
A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
 
GLUECK

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 Aug 11, 9:23 AM MST, 4 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 11, 9:23 AM MST, 4 hours 12 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
920 AM MST SUN AUG 11 1996

A FEW THINGS NOTICEABLE ON H5 PLOT/STLT PICS/SNDG DATA THIS MRNG.
1ST..12Z H5 PLOT SHOWS TWO UPR HI CNTRS..ONE ACRS NRN UT NR SLC
AND THE SCND ACRS CNTRL BAJA..W OF GYM. 2ND..DRYING SEEN ON WV
IMAGERY ACRS NRN HALF AZ/NM DRFTG S TWD CWA WITH MSTR AXIS OVR
SRN AZ/NRN MEX ELONGATING. THIS DUE TO UPR LOW ARND 28N/128W
DRFTG W AND TAIL END OF TROF MOVG THRU TX. 3RD..12Z SNDG STILL
FAIRLY MOIST AT LOW LVLS WITH PW VALUES (TUS/EPZ) STILL ABV 100%
OF NRML.

IR STLT PICS THIS MRNG SHOWG MSTLY SUNNY SKIES ACRS CWA WHICH WL
LEAD TO NICE HEATING FOR THE DAY. 12Z RUC DMSHG MSTR SE OF DUG
AS THE DAY PROGRESSES. NO WK IMPULSES ARND TO HLP WITH CNVTN. SO
WL PRBLY SEE A REPEAT OF SAT WHICH CURRENT ZN FCSTS HV.

12Z NGM/ETA SHOWG THAT TDY PRBLY WL BE MOST ACTIVE GOING INTO THE
BEING OF THE NEW WORK WEEK. THIS DUE TO HUGE HI PRES CNTR BLDG
TWD 4 CORNERS AREA OVR NXT 24-36 HRS WITH HGTS A0A 6000 METERS.
MEAN RH VALUES LWRG BLW 50% AND WITH HIER HGTS..TEMPS SHULD WARM
UP DRAMATICALLY MON/TUE WITH TEMPS NRG RCRD HI TEMPS FOR AUGUST
12TH/13TH. THERE STILL WL BE THREAT OF ISOLD/WDLY SCT CVNTN EACH
DAY.  **NOTE**RCRD HI TEMPS IN TUS ON 12TH THRU 14TH OCCURRED IN
1993/94 WITH UPR HGTS ARND 5940 METERS. TUS 331. GLUECK

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.