Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 23, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 23, 1997, 3:44 PM MST for La Paz County, Arizona. It was in force for 61 min. 3 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 23, 1997, 3:44 PM MST (22:44 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 23, 1997, 4:45 PM MST
- In force
- 61 min
- Issued by
- NWS Phoenix, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
County La Paz County, AZ
The radar
The Yuma radar (KYUX), 151 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:45 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 23, 3:45 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 56 | Quartzsite, AZ | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees and power lines. Shingles, tar paper and sheets of tin were blown off buildings and roofs. |
| Jul 23, 3:55 PM MST | Hail 1 | Quartzsite, AZ | The Quartzsite Marshal's Office reported quarter-sized hail in the east side of town. |
| Jul 23, 4:00 PM MST | Hail 1.75 | Quartzsite, AZ |
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
Yuma Intl Airpor, AZ (KYUM), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 133 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
- 167 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -260 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2270 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 8 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 75 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 232246 RRA SVRPHX AZC012-232345- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 344 PM MST WED JUL 23 1997 * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHERN LA PAZ COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ARIZONA * UNTIL 445 PM MST * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED QUARTSITE PARKER * AT 340 MST A DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR ALONG WITH A WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AT QUARTSIETE PRODUCING MARBLE SIZE HAIL AND WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 20 MPH. STRONG DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM.
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 23, 2:48 PM MST, 56 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-240130- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 245 PM MST/PDT WED JUL 23 1997 ...NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED IN THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... THE AIRMASS HAS DRIED OUT SUBSTANTIALLY ACROSS MUCH OF THE OUTLOOK AREA SINCE YESTERDAY. THIS HAS MADE FOR FOR MUCH MORE STABLE CONDITIONS...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE CENTRAL DESERTS OF ARIZONA. HOWEVER...AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OFF THE SAN DIEGO COAST WILL COMBINE WITH SUFFICIENT MOISTURE ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF THE OUTLOOK AREA TO SUPPORT ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS INTO THE EVENING HOURS. SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS CAN BE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...ALONG WITH WIND GUSTS OF BETWEEN 40 AND 50 MPH. THE STORMS THE REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ARE LIKELY TO REMAIN WEST OF MARICOPA COUNTY. THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE SHORTLY AFTER SUNSET. .................................................................... THE OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN ARIZONA IN CALIFORNIA MARICOPA YUMA IMPERIAL SOUTHERN GILA LA PAZ CENTRAL/EASTERN RIVERSIDE NORTHWEST PINAL ESTLE
Special weather statement, Jul 23, 2:50 PM MST, 54 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-240130- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 245 PM MST/PDT WED JUL 23 1997 ...NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED IN THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... THE AIRMASS HAS DRIED OUT SUBSTANTIALLY ACROSS MUCH OF THE OUTLOOK AREA SINCE YESTERDAY. THIS HAS MADE FOR MUCH MORE STABLE CONDITIONS...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE CENTRAL DESERTS OF ARIZONA. HOWEVER...AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OFF THE SAN DIEGO COAST WILL COMBINE WITH SUFFICIENT MOISTURE ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF THE OUTLOOK AREA TO SUPPORT ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS INTO THE EVENING HOURS. SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS CAN BE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...ALONG WITH WIND GUSTS OF BETWEEN 40 AND 50 MPH. THE STORMS THE REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ARE LIKELY TO REMAIN WEST OF MARICOPA COUNTY. THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE SHORTLY AFTER SUNSET. .................................................................... THE OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN ARIZONA IN CALIFORNIA MARICOPA YUMA IMPERIAL SOUTHERN GILA LA PAZ CENTRAL/EASTERN RIVERSIDE NORTHWEST PINAL ESTLE
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 22, 8:01 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | La Paz | 74 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 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.