Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Flagstaff, AZ
NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 31, 1997, 3:05 PM MST for Apache 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
- Mar 31, 1997, 3:05 PM MST (22:05 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 31, 1997, 3:55 PM MST
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Flagstaff, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
County Apache County, AZ
The radar
The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 181 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:09 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
Flgstf/Belemont, AZ (KFGZ), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 210 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 764 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 23 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 42 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 59 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
436 WUUS1 KFLG 312209 RRA SVRFLG AZC001-017-311055- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 305 PM MST MON MAR 31 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 355 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHEAST ARIZONA ...NORTHWESTERN APACHE COUNTY ...NORTHEASTERN NAVAJO COUNTY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS LOCATED 30 SOUTHWEST OF KAYENTA. THE THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE COMMUNITY OF CHILCHINBITO. IF YOU PLAN TO BE OUTDOORS THIS AFTERNOON ...CHECK THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION AND KEEP A WEATHER EYE ON THE SKY. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY CONTAIN LARGE HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Mar 31, 2:23 PM MST, 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 2:23 PM MST, 42 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 222 PM MST MON MAR 31 1997 88D AND LIGHTNING DETECTION EQUIPMENT INDICATING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ABOUT THE CFA AT THIS TIME. EXPECT ACTIVITY TO PICK UP INTO THIS EVENING AS A STRONG COLD FRONT BEARS DOWN ON THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF THE STATE. 12Z MODELS HAVE THEIR PLUSES AND MINUSES...BUT BASICALLY AGREE ON SWEEPING THIS FRONT THROUGH THE REGION BY TUESDAY MORNING...THEN DROPPING A STRONG VORT TO THE LAS...YUM VICINITY THROUGH 48 HOURS. MODELS TRY TO KEEP SOME LOW AND MID LEVEL MOISTURE IN THE REGION IN THE WAKE OF TONIGHT'S COLD FRONT. LOOKING AT RAMSDIS IMAGERY...SEE NO REAL DRYING BEHIND THE FRONT. SO...WITH UVV PROGGED TO HANG AROUND AND INCREASE INTO LATE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...WILL COUNT ON MOISTURE BEING AVAILABLE AND CONTINUE THREAT OF SHOWERS. UNSEASONABLY COLD AIR TO FILTER INTO THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF THE STATE AND SETTLE BEHIND THE FRONT TONIGHT AND TUESDAY...BUT IT NEVER REALLY MAKES IT TO EASTERN SECTIONS UNTIL LATE WEDNESDAY SO SNOW LEVELS WILL VARY WIDELY FROM NW TO SE. WEDNESDAY LOOKS INTERESTING AS GOOD UPSLOPE...MOISTURE AND UVV AVAILABLE FOR NUMEROUS SHOWERS/MOUNTAIN SNOW. WITH COOLER AIR SETTLING INTO ESPECIALLY WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE CFA...SNOW AT PRETTY LOW ELEVATIONS LOOKS GOOD. WILL BE PLAYING WITH GUIDANCE TEMPS A LOT AS THEY APPEAR TOO WARM. FLG 4346 INW 3224 PASSETTI FLG...NONjE.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 3:05 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGZ | Navajo | 50 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997
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.