Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 22, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 22, 1997, 8:01 PM MST for La Paz County, Arizona; Riverside County, California. It was in force for 74 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 22, 1997, 8:01 PM MST (03:01 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 22, 1997, 9:15 PM MST
- In force
- 74 min
- Issued by
- NWS Phoenix, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties La Paz County, AZ, Riverside County, CA
The radar
The Yuma radar (KYUX), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:01 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 22, 8:30 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Blythe, CA | Spotter reported that thunderstorm winds blew over a large tree which fell on top of his niece's car. |
| Jul 22, 8:41 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Blythe, CA | Winds downed several power poles and large trees. Many street signs were blown down and some roofs sustained damage. |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The nearest sounding before it
San Diego, CA (KNKX), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 231 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -525 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1453 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 30 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 83 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KPHX 230305 RRA SVRPHX AZC012-CAC065-230415- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 801 PM MST (801 PM PDT) TUE JUL 22 1997 * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR: WESTERN LA PAZ COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ARIZONA NORTHEASTERN RIVERSIDE COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA * UNTIL 915 PM MST (930 PM PDT) * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED.... QUARTZSITE POSTON COLORADO RIVER HIGHWAY 95 FROM 10 MILES NORTH OF BLYTHE TO VIDAL AT 755 PM MST RADAR DETECTED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM 32 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF BLYTHE...EXTENDING TO NEAR QUARTZSITE. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THESE ARE DANGEROUS STORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH...HAIL...AND HEAVY RAIN. MOBILE HOMES ARE ESPECIALLY VUNERABLE TO HIGH WINDS. 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 MST, 5 hours 5 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 22, 6:16 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Yuma | 59 min |
| Jul 22, 7:02 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | PSR | La Paz | 78 min |
| Jul 22, 7:02 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | La Paz | 78 min |
| Jul 23, 3:44 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | La Paz | 61 min |
| Jul 22, 6:03 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Imperial | 62 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1997Severe 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.