Alert archive / California / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 17, NWS Phoenix, AZ

July 22, 1997Imperial County, California

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 22, 1997, 4:14 PM PDT for Imperial County, California. It was in force for 71 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, 4:14 PM PDT (23:14 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1997, 5:25 PM PDT
In force
71 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, 11.2 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.

000 
TTAA00 KPHX 222315 RRA
SVRPHX
CAC025-230025-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
414 PM MST (414 PM PDT) TUE JUL 22 1997

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   IMPERIAL COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA

*  UNTIL 525 PM PDT (525 PM MST)

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
   OCOTILLO
   PLASTER CITY
   SEELEY
   HEBER
   CALEXICO
 
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED EARLIER FOR SOUTH CENTRAL
IMPERIAL COUNTY HAS BEEN EXPANDED TO INCLUDE PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST
IMPERIAL COUNTY UNTIL 525 PM PDT. 

NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING NORTH INTO MUCH OF SOUTHWEST
AND SOUTH CENTRAL IMPERIAL COUNTY FROM MEXICO.  MANY OF THESE
STORMS LIKELY CONTAIN STRONG WINDS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH...
INTENSE RAIN AND HAIL.  THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING NORTH AT 12 MPH.

THESE ARE DANGEROUS STORMS.  TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IF THREATENING
WEATHER APPROACHES.  STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND THE HAZARDS OF
FLYING GLASS AND DEBRIS.
 

VASQUEZ

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, 1 hour 18 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, 3:08 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRImperial92 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.