Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

September 11, 1997Coconino County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this tornado warning at Sep 11, 1997, 4:42 PM MST for Coconino County, Arizona. It was in force for 33 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 11, 1997, 4:42 PM MST (23:42 UTC)
Expired
Sep 11, 1997, 5:15 PM MST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Flagstaff, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Coconino County, AZ

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 150 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:43 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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 68 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 1997-09-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 588 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-09-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
588 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1069 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
104 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 112344 RRA
TORFLG
AZC005-120015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
442 PM MST THU SEP 11 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF AZ HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST COCONINO COUNTY
 
AT 440 PM MST...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY FLAGSTAFF
DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS OVER TUBA CITY MOVING EAST AT 30
MPH.

PEOPLE NEAR OR IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADIC STORM SHOULD FIND SAFE
SHELTER NOW.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 11, 9:27 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai2 hr
Sep 11, 11:13 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZYavapai47 min
Sep 11, 11:53 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZYavapai77 min
Sep 11, 12:26 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai44 min
Sep 11, 12:26 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZYavapai44 min
Sep 11, 1:59 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZCoconino46 min
Sep 11, 4:08 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZCoconino57 min
Sep 11, 4:08 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZCoconino57 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arizona, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.