Alert archive / California / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Phoenix, AZ

July 22, 1997Imperial County, California

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 22, 1997, 3:08 PM PDT for Imperial County, California. It was in force for 92 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 22, 1997, 3:08 PM PDT (22:08 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1997, 4:40 PM PDT
In force
92 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Imperial County, CA

The nearest sounding before it

Yuma Intl Airpor, AZ (KYUM), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Yuma Intl Airpor, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 344 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Yuma Intl Airpor, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 59 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
344 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1635 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
82 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.

047 
WUUS1 KPHX 222211 RRA
SVRPHX
CAC025-222340-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
308 PM PDT TUE JUL 22 1997

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   SOUTH CENTRAL IMPERIAL COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA

*  UNTIL 440 PM PDT 

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
   CALEXICO
   EL CENTRO
   IMPERIAL
   HEBER
 
*  AT 307 PM PDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
   NEAR MEXICALI MEXICO...OR JUST SOUTH OF EL CENTRO
   CALIFORNIA. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 15 MPH.

DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.
BLOWING DUST AND VERY HEAVY RAIN ARE ALSO LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.
 
HV/MB,

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 22, 2:56 PM PDT, 12 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-230130-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
245 PM MST/PDT TUE JUL 22 1997

...SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING OVER PORTIONS OF THE FAR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA DESERTS NEAR
IMPERIAL...

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVER THE BAJA CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS
SOUTH OF IMPERIAL AND MEXICALI THIS AFTERNOON.  THESE STORMS WERE
MOVING NORTH TOWARD WESTERN IMPERIAL COUNTY. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK
OF DAMAGING STRAIGHTLINE WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IN WESTERN
IMPERIAL COUNTY.

THE FAVORED LOCATIONS FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN WESTERN IMPERIAL
COUNTY ARE FROM THE TOWNS OF HOLTVILLE AND BRAWLEY WESTWARD TO THE
SAN DIEGO COUNTY LINE.  THIS INCLUDES PORTIONS OF INTERSTATE 8 AND
THE SOUTHWESTERN SHORES OF THE SALTON SEA.

....................................................................

THE OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN ARIZONA                         IN CALIFORNIA

MARICOPA            YUMA           IMPERIAL
SOUTHERN GILA       LA PAZ         CENTRAL/EASTERN RIVERSIDE
NORTHWEST PINAL

VASQUEZ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 22, 4:14 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRImperial71 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in California, 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.