Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 48, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 8, 1997Gila County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 8, 1997, 4:25 PM MST for Gila County, Arizona. It was in force for 65 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
Aug 8, 1997, 4:25 PM MST (23:25 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 1997, 5:30 PM MST
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Gila County, AZ

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:28 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, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 181 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 1997-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 842 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, Tuscon, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -33 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
842 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-168 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1691 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
10 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 082325 RRA
SVRPHX
AZC007-090030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
425 PM MST FRI AUG 8 1997

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   SOUTHEASTERN GILA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 530 PM MST

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
   SAN CARLOS
   GLOBE
   CUTTER
   ALONG U.S. HIGHWAY 70 BETWEEN PERIDOT AND GLOBE
 
*  AT 420 MST RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
   20 MILES NORTHEAST OF GLOBE. $ MOVEMENT WAS TO THE SOUTHWEST 15
   MPH.

DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 58 MPH AND HAIL GREATER THAN 3/4 INCH
IN DIAMETER ARE LIKELY 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, Aug 8, 10:35 AM MST, 5 hours 50 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-072145-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
1045 AM MST/PDT FRI AUG 8 1997

...THUNDERSTORMS...POSSIBLY SEVERE...ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS SOUTHWEST
AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS SOUTH-CENTRAL AND
SOUTHWEST ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT FROM
THESE STORMS WILL BE HEAVY RAIN...BUT THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT RISK
OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ENTIRE ARIZONA PORTION OF THE
OUTLOOK AREA.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IMPLY...DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 58 MPH...
AND/OR HAIL THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH OR MORE IN DIAMETER.

AN UPDATED SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR THE PHOENIX NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY WILL BE
ISSUED AT 245 PM MST/PDT THIS AFTERNOON.

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

THE OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN ARIZONA                     IN CALIFORNIA

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

PERFREMENT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 7, 5:14 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRGila, Pinal61 min
Aug 7, 5:28 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRLa Paz87 min
Aug 7, 6:38 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRLa Paz62 min
Aug 7, 6:56 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRLa Paz, Yuma59 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.