Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 8, 1997Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 8, 1997, 7:42 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 78 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: Aug 8, 1997, 7:42 PM MST (02:42 UTC)
Expired: Aug 8, 1997, 9:00 PM MST
In force: 78 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 02:42 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
Aug 8, 7:46 PM MST	Thunderstorm Wind 51	Luke Afb, AZ
Aug 8, 8:20 PM MST	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Buckeye, AZ
Aug 8, 9:00 PM MST	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Gila Bend, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Aug 8, 5:15 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 657 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -196 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1881 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 100 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 196 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 6.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KPHX 090241 RRA
SVRPHX
AZC013-090400-

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

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWESTERN MARICOPA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 900 PM MST

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
   BUCKEYE
   WICKENBURG
   GOODYEAR
   PALO VERDE
 
*  AT 740 PM MST RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM
   LAKE PLEASANT SOUTH ACROSS THE WEST VALLEY TO AVONDALE.
   MOVEMENT WAS TO THE WEST AT 15 MPH.

DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND HAIL GREATER THAN 3/4 INCHES
IN DIAMETER ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. BLOWING DUST IN ADVANCE OF
THE STORMS COULD REDUCE THE VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN 1/2 MILE.
RAINFALLS OF AN INCH PER HOUR CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 8, 5:03 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Gila	62 min
Aug 8, 5:26 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Gila	34 min
Aug 8, 6:40 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Maricopa, Pinal	65 min
Aug 8, 7:19 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Maricopa	61 min
Aug 8, 7:46 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Pinal	44 min
Aug 8, 8:15 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Maricopa	75 min
Aug 8, 9:00 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Maricopa	60 min
Aug 8, 9:31 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	La Paz	54 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1997 Every 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.