Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 83, NWS Tucson, AZ
NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 1996, 4:57 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 63 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 16, 1996, 4:57 PM MST (23:57 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 16, 1996, 6:00 PM MST
- In force
- 63 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 23:55 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 5:15 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 63 | Tucson, AZ |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The nearest sounding before it
Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 12.0 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 163 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -349 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2512 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 4 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -95 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -41 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 162354 SVRTUS AZC019-170100- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA 457 PM MST FRI AUG 16 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA ...EASTERN PIMA COUNTY AT 450 PM...TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AN AREA FROM SOUTHERN TUCSON TO VAIL TO NEAR GREEN VALLEY. THESE STORM WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY AND MOVING THE WEST AT 10 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...S!EEK 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 Aug 16, 2:00 PM MST, 2 hours 57 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 2:00 PM MST, 2 hours 57 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 200 PM MST FRI AUG 16 1996 MAY SURGE TONIGHT...AND THIS POSES PROBLEM. FCST IS WRITTEN FOR INCREASE IN MSTR SUN IN ADVANCE OF TROF TO THE NORTH. IF WE SURGE TONIGHT THIS FCST NEEDS TO BE TRASHED. NGM MOS HAS 61 DEWPOINT FOR US SUNDAY NIGHT. THAT IS A PRIME NUMBER...NO PUN INTENDED...FOR TSTMS TO MOVE INTO THE VALLEYS. SEVERAL GOOD REASONS TO EXPECT SURGE TONIGHT...FIRST GYM HAS OVR 2 INCHES OF PRECIP WATER. CU FIELD NEAR HMO SHOWS MSTR WORKED UP TO THERE SO TSTMS FIRING TO OUR SOUTH THIS AFTN SHOULD BUILD DOWN TO THERE AND THEN WEST TOWARDS GULF OF CA. THESE STORMS WOULD THEN INITIATE SURGE. WITHOUT THE SURGE THE STO~RMS WILL SHOW A SLOW INCREASE IN COVERAGE TONIGHT AND SAT...WITH A FEW STORMS ABLE TO MOVE INTO VALLEYS ONCE WE DECOUPLE IN THE EVENING. OTRW...MOSTLY MTN HUGGERS. TUS 2224. HOLBROOK
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tucson, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 1:06 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Santa Cruz | 69 min |
| Aug 16, 1:45 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Santa Cruz | 75 min |
| Aug 16, 2:45 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Santa Cruz | 60 min |
| Aug 16, 3:28 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima | 62 min |
| Aug 16, 4:08 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Cochise, Pima | 67 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.