Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 55, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 8, 1997Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 8, 1997, 8:15 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 75 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
Aug 8, 1997, 8:15 PM MST (03:15 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 1997, 9:30 PM MST
In force
75 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 03:17 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 8, 8:20 PM MSTThunderstorm Wind 52Buckeye, AZ
Aug 8, 9:00 PM MSTThunderstorm Wind 52Gila 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 8, 5:15 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 3.3 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 00:00Z on 1997-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 657 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 00:00Z on 1997-08-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 100 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
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 090315 RRA
SVRPHX
AZC013-090430-

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

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   SOUTHWESTERN MARICOPA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 930 PM MST

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
   GILA BEND
   STATE HIGHWAY 85
   INTERSTATE 8
   SENTINEL
 
*  AT 815 PM MST RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 5 MILES
   SOUTH OF BUCKEYE TO 15 MILES EASTT OF GILA BEND. MOVEMENT WAS TO
   THE SOUTHWEST 10 TO 15 MPH.

DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND HAIL LARGER THAN 3/4 INCH ARE
LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. INTENSE LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS
ALSO LIKELY WITH THESE STORMS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 8, 5:03 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRGila62 min
Aug 8, 5:26 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRGila34 min
Aug 8, 6:40 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal65 min
Aug 8, 7:19 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa61 min
Aug 8, 7:42 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa78 min
Aug 8, 7:46 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRPinal44 min
Aug 8, 9:00 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa60 min
Aug 8, 9:31 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRLa Paz54 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.