Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 61, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 14, 1997Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 14, 1997, 7:18 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 87 min. 1 report 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 14, 1997, 7:18 PM MST (02:18 UTC)
Expired
Aug 14, 1997, 8:45 PM MST
In force
87 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pinal County, AZ

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:18 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 14, 8:30 PM MSTThunderstorm Wind 50Superior, AZPart of a trailer roof was blown off. Signs along a road were blown down.

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

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 92 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 1997-08-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 435 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 1997-08-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 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
435 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2878 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
13 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 150219 RRA
SVRPHX
AZC021-150345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
718 PM MST THU AUG 14 1997

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   NORTHERN PINAL COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 845 PM MST

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
   CASA GRANDE
   COOLIDGE
   MARICOPA
   STANFIELD
   AK-CHIN
   SACATON
   FLORENCE
   FLORENCE JUNCTION
   INTERSTATE 8
   INTERSTATE 10
 
*  AT 710 PM MST RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
   DEVELOPING OVER NORTHWEST PINAL COUNTY.  MOVEMENT WAS TO
   THE EAST AT 20 MPH. STRONG DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS
   STORM ALONG WITH BLOWING DUST CAUSING NEAR ZERO VISIBILITY.
   HEAVY RAIN AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE LIKELY AS WELL.

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 14, 2:47 PM MST, 4 hours 31 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-150130-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
245 PM MST/PDT THU AUG 14 1997

...NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED IN THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

THE AIR MASS OVER MUCH OF SOUTHWEST ARIZONA AND FAR SOUTHEAST
CALIFORNIA WAS SOMEWHAT DRIER AND MORE STABLE TODAY. AS A
RESULT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED ACROSS THE
OUTLOOK AREA.

A FEW THUNDERSTORMS HOWEVER ARE FORECAST OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS
OF EASTERN MARICOPA COUNTY AND SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY THROUGH EARLY
EVENING. THIS INCLUDES THE SALT RIVER RECREATIONAL LAKES AND LAKE
ROOSEVELT. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO NEAR
50 MPH...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...AND SMALL HAIL.

THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT RISK OF A THUNDERSTORM OR DUSTSTORM IN THE
FAR EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE GREATER PHOENIX METRO AREA EARLY THIS
EVENING.

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

THE OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN ARIZONA                              IN CALIFORNIA

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 14, 6:22 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa88 min
Aug 14, 7:44 PM MSTTornado WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal61 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.