Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 62, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 17, 1997, 1:40 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 60 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 17, 1997, 1:40 PM MST (20:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 17, 1997, 2:40 PM MST
- In force
- 60 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 20:39 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 | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 1:55 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Buckeye, 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 nearest sounding before it
Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 961 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -43 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1293 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 11 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -8 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 162 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KPHX 172041 RRA SVRPHX AZC013-172140- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 140 PM MST SUN AUG 17 1997 * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWESTERN MARICOPA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA * UNTIL 240 PM MST * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BUCKEYE GOODYEAR ARLINGTON STATE ROUTE 85 INTERSTATE 10 WEST OF AVONDALE * AT 140 PM MST RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CENTERED ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTH OF BUCKEYE. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH-NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH. DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH ALONG WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. AN URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOrR THIS AREA.
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 17, 11:08 AM MST, 2 hours 32 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-172145- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 1045 AM MST/PDT SUN AUG 17 1997 ...A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON. THE MAIN THREATS WITH THESE STORMS ARE STRONG POSSIBLY DAMAGING WINDS...AND EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN. SOME OF THE COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THE MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER INCLUDE YUMA... LA PAZ... EASTERN IMPERIAL (FAR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA)...MARICOPA...SOUTHERN GILA...AND PINAL. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IMPLY...DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 58 MPH...AND/OR HAIL THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH OR MORE IN DIAMETER. THE ATMOSPHERE OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA HAS BECOME VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE. A WEATHER DISTURBANCE MOVING OUT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL HELP TO INITIATE THUNDERSTORMS THAT WILL LAST WELL INTO THE EVENING HOURS. IN ADDITIONAL TO THE HIGH WIND GUST POTENTIAL...INTENSE THUNDERSTORM RAINS COULD LEAD TO FLOOD...FLASH FLOODING...OR THE PONDING OF WATER. TODAY WILL BE A VERY ACTIVE WEATHER DAY ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA. RESIDENTS...MOTORISTS...AND OTHERS SHOULD LISTEN TO THE LATEST FORECASTS AND UPDATES IN THE EVENT WEATHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...OR ADVISORIES ARE NEEDED. 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 VASQUEZ
Special weather statement, Aug 17, 11:22 AM MST, 2 hours 18 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-172145- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 1045 AM MST/PDT SUN AUG 17 1997 ...A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON. THE MAIN THREATS WITH THESE STORMS ARE STRONG POSSIBLY DAMAGING WINDS...AND EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN. SOME OF THE COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THE MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER INCLUDE YUMA...LA PAZ...EASTERN IMPERIAL (FAR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA)...MARICOPA...SOUTHERN GILA...AND PINAL. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IMPLY...DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 58 MPH... AND/OR HAIL THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH OR MORE IN DIAMETER. THE ATMOSPHERE OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA HAS BECOME VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE. A WEATHER DISTURBANCE MOVING OUT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL HELP TO INITIATE THUNDERSTORMS THAT WILL LAST WELL INTO THE EVENING HOURS. IN ADDITIONAL TO THE HIGH WIND GUST POTENTIAL...INTENSE THUNDERSTORM RAINS COULD LEAD TO FLOOD...FLASH FLOODING...OR THE PONDING OF WATER. TODAY WILL BE A VERY ACTIVE WEATHER DAY ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA. RESIDENTS...MOTORISTS...AND OTHERS SHOULD LISTEN TO THE LATEST FORECASTS AND UPDATES IN THE EVENT WEATHER WATCHES... WARNINGS...OR ADVISORIES ARE NEEDED. AN UPDATED SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR THE PHOENIX NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY WILL BEISSUED 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 VASQUEZ
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.