Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 98, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

September 16, 1997Coconino County, Yavapai County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 16, 1997, 2:25 PM MST for Coconino County, Yavapai County, Arizona. It was in force for 65 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
Sep 16, 1997, 2:25 PM MST (21:25 UTC)
Expired
Sep 16, 1997, 3:30 PM MST
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Flagstaff, AZ
Area
Whole counties

Counties Coconino County, AZ, Yavapai County, AZ

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:29 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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 33 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, Flgstf/Belemont, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-09-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Flgstf/Belemont, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-09-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 72 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1328 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
38 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 KFLG 162125
SVRFLG
AZC005-025-162230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
225 PM MST TUE SEP 16 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF AZ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 330 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN COCONINO COUNTY

IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...NORTHEASTERN YAVAPAI COUNTY
 
AT 225 PM MST...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY FLAGSTAFF
DOPPLER RADAR 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SEDONA OR 9 MILES WEST OF HAPPY
JACK MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING AREA INCLUDE... HAPPY JACK AND MORMON
LAKE.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...FIND SHELTER INSIDE A STRONG
BUILDING AND DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS
PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINbGS.

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 Sep 16, 2:13 PM MST, 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 16, 2:13 PM MST, 12 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
215 PM MST TUE SEP 16 1997

CONVECTION TOOK A WHILE TO DEVELOP TODAY MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE MID-
LEVEL RESIDUAL MORNING CLOUDINESS AND THE CONSIDERABLE DRYING THAT
TOOK PLACE AT H7-H85 LEVEL. EXPECT SOME MORE OF A DECREASE IN
MOISTURE ESPECIALLY IN THE WESTERN SECTION FOR WED BUT BECAUSE OF
LESS CLOUDS IN THE MORNING THE CONVECTION SHOULD COME CLOSE TO TODAYS
ACTIVITY. ON THU A TROF FROM THE WEST APPROACHES US AND BRINGS BACK
MEMORIES OF THE WINTER-TIME PATTERNS SOMEWHAT. WITH IT EXPECT SOME
INCREASING WINDS AND LOWERING TEMPS INTO THU BUT IT APPEARS FOR NOW
THAT IT WILL STALL OVER S NV AND THUS APPEARS TO BE FAIRLY DRYJ INTO
THU EVENING WITH JUST A SCATTERED CHANCE IN THE NORTHWEST SECTIONS
FOR THU AFTN.

FLG 3322 INW 2221
HP
FLG...NONE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 16, 8:53 AM MST, 5 hours 32 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
853 AM MST TUE SEP 16 1997

TIME(MST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0445 PM    12 N COTTONWOOD                AZ   FLASH FLOOD

09/13/97   YAVAPAI                        *** 1 INJ ***
                                          THIRTY PEOPLE CAUGHT IN A
                                          FLASH FLOOD IN SYCAMORE
                                          CANYON. HIKERS HAD CROSSED
                                          SYCAMORE CREEK, OFF THEIR
                                          TRAIL, WHEN THEY HEARD THE
                                          FLOOD WATERS COMING SO
                                          TRIED TO QUICKLY CROSS BACK
                                          OVER THE CREEK. 16 MADE IT,
                                          14 DID NOT AND WERE
                                          STRANDED OVERNIGHT. ONE MAN
                                          BROKE HIS TOE RUNNING
                                          ACROSS THE ROCKY CREEK BED.

CUOCO
Local storm report, Sep 16, 9:10 AM MST, 5 hours 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
853 AM MST TUE SEP 16 1997

TIME(MST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0445 PM    12 N COTTONWOOD                AZ   FLASH FLOOD

09/13/97   YAVAPAI                        *** 1 INJ ***
                                          THIRTY PEOPLE CAUGHT IN A
                                          FLASH FLOOD IN SYCAMORE
                                          CANYON. HIKERS HAD CROSSED
                                          SYCAMORE CREEK, OFF THEIR
                                          TRAIL, WHEN THEY "HEARD THE
                                          FLOOD WATERS COMING" SO
                                          TRIED TO QUICKLY CROSS BACK
                                          OVER THE CREEK. 16 MADE IT,
                                          14 DID NOT AND WERE
   h                                       STRANDED OVERNIGHT. ONE MAN
                                          BROKE HIS TOE RUNNING
                                          ACROSS THE ROCKY CREEK BED.

CUOCO

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 15, 5:49 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZGila61 min
Sep 15, 5:49 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZGila61 min
Sep 15, 5:50 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZGila60 min
Sep 15, 5:50 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZGila60 min
Sep 15, 6:54 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZGila61 min
Sep 15, 6:54 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZGila61 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.