Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 3, 1996Pima County, Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 3, 1996, 4:49 PM MST for Pima County, Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 41 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 3, 1996, 4:49 PM MST (23:49 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 1996, 5:30 PM MST
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

Counties Pima County, AZ, Pinal County, AZ

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:52 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, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 73 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 1996-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 44 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 1996-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -23 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
44 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-405 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1858 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-8 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 032351
SVRTUS
AZC019-021-040030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
449 PM MST WED JUL 3 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
 
   ...EXTREME NORTHEAST PIMA COUNTY
   ...EXTREME SOUTHEAST PINAL COUNTY
 
AT 445 PM TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
CATALINA AND ORACLE JUNCTION...OR ABOUT 20 TO 25 MILES NORTH OF
DOWNTOWN TUCSON. THIS STORM IS MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH TOWARD
ORO VALLEY AND HIGHWAY 77..
 
 
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.

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 3, 2:16 PM MST, 2 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 2:16 PM MST, 2 hours 33 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
215 PM MST TUE JUL 2 1996

CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY HAS BEEN FIRING OVER THE RIM PAST FEW HOURS BUT
IS JUST STARTING TO GET UNDERWAY ACROSS THE REST OF SE AZ AS PARCELS
JUST BEGINNING TO BREAK THROUGH CAP. SOUNDING PROFILE VERY SIMILAR TO
YESTERDAY SO EXPECT MOST STORMS THIS EVENING TO BE THE GENERIC TYPE
LIKE YESTERDAY...I.E BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS.

H5 HIGH PROGGED TO REMAIN OVER CO/NRN NM AT LEAST NEXT 5 DAYS SO
OUR MOIST MONSOON PATTERN WILL CONTINUE WITH THE USUAL SCT MAINLY
AFTN/EVE TSTMS. COLLINS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 3, 3:30 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCSanta Cruz45 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.