Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 70, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 26, 1997Yuma County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 26, 1997, 5:17 PM MST for Yuma County, Arizona. It was in force for 63 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 26, 1997, 5:17 PM MST (00:17 UTC)
Expired
Aug 26, 1997, 6:20 PM MST
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Yuma County, AZ

The radar

The Yuma radar (KYUX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:20 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 26, 6:10 PM MSTThunderstorm Wind 50Dome, AZDowned power lines on Dome Valley Road. A woman was trapped in her car due to the downed power lines. Further, 15 power poles were downed in Dome Valley.

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 text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPHX 270017 RRA
SVRPHX
AZC027-270120-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
517 PM MST TUE AUG 26 1997

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   YUMA COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 620 PM MST

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...
   LIGURTA
   WELLTON
   AND NEARBY PORTIONS OF INTERSTATE 8

*  AT 515 PM MST RADAR DETECTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
   BUILDING RAPIDLY NEAR THE TOWNS OF WELLTON...LIGURTA...
   AND THE DOME VALLEY. 

STRONG DAMAGING WINDS 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

Local storm report, Aug 26, 2:37 PM MST, 2 hours 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
237 PM MST TUE AUG 26 1997

TIME(MST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
DATE       ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0830 AM    SCOTTSDALE                AZ   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/97   MARICOPA                       TREES AND FENCES BLOWN
                                          DOWN AND ROOFS BLOWN OFF.

0930 AM    11 SE PHOENIX             AZ   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/97   MARICOPA                       POWER LINES DOWNED.
Local storm report, Aug 26, 2:38 PM MST, 2 hours 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
237 PM MST TUE AUG 26 1997

TIME(MST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
DATE       ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0830 AM    SCOTTSDALE                AZ   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/97   MARICOPA                       TREES AND FENCES BLOWN
                                          DOWN AND ROOFS BLOWN OFF.

0930 AM    11 SE PHOENIX             AZ   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/97   MARICOPA                       POWER LINES DOWNED.
Special weather statement, Aug 26, 2:41 PM MST, 2 hours 36 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-271130-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
245 PM MST/PDT TUE AUG 26 1997

...A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER WESTERN AND CENTRAL
MARICOPA...AND FAR EASTERN YUMA AND LA PAZ COUNTIES...LATE
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT RISK OF
SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY...

FLOODING RAINS AND DAMAGING WINDS WERE PRESENT OVER PORTIONS OF
EASTERN AND CENTRAL MARICOPA COUNTY EARLIER TODAY. AS A RESULT THE
AIRMASS IN THAT AREA HAS BECOME MORE STABLE...LESSING THE THREAT
OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...THOUGH HEAVY RAIN COULD OCCASIONALLY BE
PRESENT. BUT THERE ARE INDICATIONS THE UNSTABLE AIR THAT HELPED
TRIGGER THE MORNING RAINS WILL SLOWLY MOVE WEST THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. AS A RESULT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND/OR HEAVY RAIN MAY
DEVELOP IN THIS PORTION OF THE OUTLOOK AREA.

THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO ON THE INCREASE OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN
GILA COUNTY DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS. STORMS SHOULD
CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND STRENGTHEN IN THIS AREA INTO THE EVENING
HOURS...POSSIBLY RESULTING IN SEVERE WEATHER.

DAMAGING WINDS TO AROUND 60 MPH MAY BE PRESENT WITH A FEW OF THE
THUNDERSTORMS...ALONG WITH SMALL HAIL. BUT THE PRIMARY CONCERN WILL
BE PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN...RESULTING IN ROADWAY FLOODING...AND
FILLING NORMALLY DRY WASHES. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT
FOR THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE OUTLOOK AREA UNTIL 8 PM MST.

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

FOR PURPOSES OF THIS OUTLOOK...SEVERE WEATHER REFERS TO ANY OF THE
FOLLOWING...DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH...HAIL 3/4 INCH IN
DIAMETER OR LARGER...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WHICH RESULTS IN
RUNNING WASHES OR FLOODING.

THE OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN ARIZONA                     IN CALIFORNIA

MARICOPA                       IMPERIAL
SOUTHERN GILA                  CENTRAL/EASTERN RIVERSIDE
NORTHWEST PINAL
YUMA
LA PAZ
....................................................................
Local storm report, Aug 26, 2:54 PM MST, 2 hours 23 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
254 PM MST TUE AUG 26 1997

TIME(MST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
DATE       ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0830 AM    SCOTTSDALE                AZ   61 MPH TSTM GUST
08/26/97   MARICOPA                       TREES AND FENCES BLOWN
                                          DOWN AND ROOFS BLOWN OFF.

0930 AM    11 SE PHOENIX             AZ   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/97   MARICOPA                       POWER LINES DOWNED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 27, 1:16 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRLa Paz59 min
Aug 27, 3:12 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRLa Paz48 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.