Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 27, 1997Yuma County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 27, 1997, 5:35 PM MST for Yuma County, Arizona. It was in force for 50 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 27, 1997, 5:35 PM MST (00:35 UTC)
Expired
Aug 27, 1997, 6:25 PM MST
In force
50 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 00:38 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 27, 5:45 PM MSTHail 0.75Dateland, AZ
Aug 27, 5:45 PM MSTThunderstorm Wind 52Dateland, AZStrong thunderstorm winds damaged a school, a storage building, and several porches and awnings. AC units and awnings at the school sustained $7,000 damage and residential areas sustained $20,000 total damage.

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 280036 RRA
SVRPHX
AZC027-280125-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
535 PM MST WED AUG 27 1997

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   EAST CENTRAL YUMA COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 625 PM MST

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
   DATELAND
   AZTEC
   HORN
   INTERSTATE 8
 
*  AT 535 PM MST... RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
   NEAR DATELAND. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 15 MPH.

STRONG DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH ARE LIKELY WITH THIS
STORM. VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...HAIL...AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING ARE ALSO
LIKELY.

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 27, 2:52 PM MST, 2 hours 43 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-281130-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
245 PM MST/PDT WED AUG 27 1997

...A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER OVER WESTERN AND CENTRAL
MARICOPA...YUMA AND LA PAZ COUNTIES IN ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING...

WITH THE SOUTHERLY FLOW OF MOIST AIR CONTINUING OVER ARIZONA THE
MAIN MOISTURE FETCH HAS SHIFTED TO WESTERN ARIZONA.  THIS IS
NOTICABLE IN THE DEW POINTS WHICH WERE IN THE LOW 70S OVER
FAR SOUTHWESTERN ARIZONA WHEREAS THEY WERE ONLY IN THE 60S IN
THE CENTRAL DESERTS.  THE ATMOSPHERE OVER WESTERN ARIZONA IS
ALSO VERY UNSTABLE. THESE FACTORS ALONG WITH DAYTIME HEATING
OF THE ATMOSPHERE WILL CAUSE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP.
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK THAT SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY
PRODUCE SEVERE WEATHER...MAINLY IN THE FORM OF LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINS AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

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

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 27, 5:49 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRYuma46 min
Aug 27, 6:18 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRYuma62 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.