Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Tucson, AZ
NWS Tucson, AZ issued this tornado warning at Jul 8, 1996, 3:55 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 35 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 8, 1996, 3:55 PM MST (22:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 8, 1996, 4:30 PM MST
- In force
- 35 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 22:56 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, 10.9 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
- 925 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -124 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1708 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 12 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 87 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 116 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 082254 TORTUS AZC019-082330- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA 355 PM MST MON JUL 8 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON ARIZONA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA ...EASTERN PIMA COUNTY AT 350 PM MST TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR SHOWS A TORNADO DEVELOPING OVER SOUTH TUCSON. THIS POSSIBLY TORNADIC STORM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH TOWARD SOUTH TUCSON...NORTH OF THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT NEAR INTERSTATE 10. TAKE COVER NOW. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS. DRB
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at Jul 8, 2:18 PM MST, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 2:18 PM MST, 1 hour 37 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 200 PM MST MON JUL 8 1996 DEWPOINT HOLDING AT 60 AND HEAVY RAIN PRODUCERS NOW OVR MTNS...SO JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE STORMS MOVE INTO VALLEYS. BEST STORMS UP IN ZONE 25 AND WEST OF FHU...WITH CELL MOTION NWLY. CAPE NOW 1100 SO SOME STORMS MAY ALSO GO SEVERE IN ADDITION TO FLASH FLOODING. STORMS MAY PUSH WELL OUT IN VALLEY...POSSIBLY TO PHX BY LATE TONIGHT. STILL HAVE NOT SEEN ANY SIG ORGANIZATION TO THIS YET. COUNTING ON SIG EVENT TODAY HAVE LOWERED POPS FOR TUE...ALTHOUGH THIS MAY NOT HOLD TRUE WITH ALL THE DYNAMICS ALSO AVAILABLE. TUS 5333 TUS...FLASH FLOOD WATCH ZONES 21-26 TIL 1000 PM MST. HOLBROOK
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tucson, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 5:13 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Cochise, Pima | 47 min |
| Jul 7, 5:13 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Cochise, Pima | 47 min |
| Jul 7, 6:00 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Cochise | 60 min |
| Jul 7, 6:58 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Pima | 2 hr |
| Jul 7, 7:16 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Pima | 44 min |
| Jul 7, 7:16 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima | 44 min |
| Jul 7, 8:04 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima | 56 min |
| Jul 8, 2:40 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Santa Cruz | 2 hr |
| Jul 8, 2:44 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Pima | 61 min |
| Jul 8, 2:44 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima | 61 min |
| Jul 8, 3:11 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Cochise | 94 min |
| Jul 8, 3:26 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima, Santa Cruz | 49 min |
| Jul 8, 3:48 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Pima | 57 min |
| Jul 8, 3:48 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima | 57 min |
| Jul 8, 4:16 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Cochise | 59 min |
| Jul 8, 4:30 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Santa Cruz | 45 min |
| Jul 8, 4:30 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Santa Cruz | 45 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Arizona, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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.