Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 5, 1997Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 5, 1997, 6:03 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 57 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
Aug 5, 1997, 6:03 PM MST (01:03 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 1997, 7:00 PM MST
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Maricopa County, AZ

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:04 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 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 198 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, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1997-08-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 306 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1997-08-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 9 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
306 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3444 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
17 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 KPHX 060105
FFWPHX
AZC013-060200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
603 PM MST TUE AUG 5 1997

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   SOUTHWESTERN MARICOPA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 700 PM MST

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
   MOBILE
   ARIZONA ROUTE 238
 
*  AT 6 PM MST RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE STORM 5 MILES
NORTH OF THE COMMUNITY OF MOBILE. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE
SOUTHWEST AT 10 MPH.

DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 5, 12:39 PM MST, 5 hours 24 minutes before
AZZ025-052045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
1239 PM MST TUE AUG 5 1997

...TEST TEST TEST...BIG WEATHER IN STORE....

FORTY FIVE TORNADOS ARE EXPECTED TO FORM OVER THE PHOENIX METRO AREA
TOMORROW...COURTESY OF A MAJOR WINTER STORM THAT WILL MOVE OUT OF THE
GREAT BASIN AND PARK ITSELF OVER ARIZONA.

TEST TEST TEST TEST
Special weather statement, Aug 5, 12:40 PM MST, 5 hours 23 minutes before
AZZ025-052045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
1239 PM MST TUE AUG 5 1997

...TEST TEST TEST...BIG WEATHER IN STORE....

FORTY FIVE TORNADOS ARE EXPECTED TO FORM OVER THE PHOENIX METRO AREA
TOMORROW...COURTESY OF A MAJOR WINTER STORM THAT WILL MOVE OUT OF THE
GREAT BASIN AND PARK ITSELF OVER ARIZONA.

TEST TEST TEST TEST

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 5, 5:27 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRLa Paz63 min
Aug 5, 6:03 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa57 min
Aug 5, 8:09 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRYuma81 min
Aug 5, 8:09 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRYuma81 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1997Every flash flood 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.