Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Phoenix, AZ

June 6, 1997Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 6, 1997, 11:50 AM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 45 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
Jun 6, 1997, 11:50 AM MST (18:50 UTC)
Expired
Jun 6, 1997, 12:35 PM MST
In force
45 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 18:51 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 12:00Z, 6.8 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 12:00Z on 1997-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Tuscon, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-06-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3313 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
265 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 061849
SVRPHX
AZC013-061935-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
1150 AM MST FRI JUN 6 1997

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   SOUTHWESTERN MARICOPA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 1235 PM MST

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
   INTERSTATE 8 FROM WEST OF GILA BEND TO SENTINAL
   HYDER
   CAMEL
   MONTEZUMA
 
*  AT 1148 AM MST RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
   WEST GILA BEND.  MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 10 MPH.
 
   LARGE HAIL AND BLOWING DUST ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.

MB/WOJ

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, Jun 6, 11:21 AM MST, 29 minutes before
AZZ020>025-070300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
1117 AM MST FRI JUN 6 1997

...SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL AND
SOUTHWEST ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING...

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWEST AND
SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THE
GREATER PHOENIX METROPOLITAN AREA...CASA GRANDE...GILA BEND...AND
YUMA ARE INCLUDED IN THE SLIGHT RISK AREA. THE MOST INTENSE STORMS
WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING SURFACE WINDS...HAIL IN EXCESS
OF 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...AND INTENSE LIGHTNING.  THUNDERSTORMS WILL
BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BLOWING DUST AND POSSIBLE DUST STORMS...IN
ADDITION TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY BEGUN TO
DEVELOP THIS MORNING OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST ARIZONA THIS MORNING.

A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WAS CENTERED NEAR YUMA LATE THIS MORNING...AND
IS FORECAST TO REMAIN OVER SOUTHWEST ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. THE COMBINATION OF INCREASING LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE...SURFACE
HEATING...RELATIVELY COLD AIR ALOFT...AND STRONGER THAN NORMAL UPPER
LEVEL WINDS FAVOR DEVELOPMENT OF STRONG...POSSIBLY SEVERE...
THUNDERSTORMS. INDIVIDUAL STORMS WILL MOVE TO THE NORTHWEST AT 25
MPH.

RESIDENTS OF SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR
YOUR FAVORITE SOURCE OF WEATHER INFORMATION FOR ANY STATEMENTS OR
WARNINGS...AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE INDOORS OR ANOTHER PLACE OF
SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA.

DG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 6, 3:51 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRYuma54 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.