Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1997, 4:15 PM MST for Maricopa County, Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 105 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
- Jul 9, 1997, 4:15 PM MST (23:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 9, 1997, 6:00 PM MST
- In force
- 105 min
- Issued by
- NWS Phoenix, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Maricopa County, AZ, Pinal County, AZ
The radar
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 29 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:17 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 5:15 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 51 | Casa Grande Arpt, 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 143 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
- 18 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -333 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3368 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 9 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 11 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 17 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
903 WUUS1 KPHX 092316 RRA SVRPHX AZC013-021-100100- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 415 PM MST WED JUL 9 1997 * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR SOUTHERN MARICOPA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA NORTHWESTERN PINAL COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA * UNTIL 600 PM MST * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED IN MARICOPA COUNTY...MOBILE...BUCKEYE...AVONDALE...AND SUN LAKES IN NORTHWEST PINAL COUNTY...CASA GRANDE...STANFIELD...AND MARICOPA. * AT 410 PM MST RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM EAST OF GILA BEND TO NEAR CASA GRANDE. A FEW OF THE STORMS WILL LIKELY BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND DENSE BLOWING DUST THROUGH 6 PM. STORM MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 20 MPH.
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, Jul 9, 3:07 PM MST, 1 hour 8 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-100130- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 310 PM MST/PDT WED JUL 9 1997 ...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED IN THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... LOWER LEVEL MOISTURE INCREASED THROUGHOUT SOUTHWEST ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA DURING THE LAST 24 HOURS. ADDITIONALLY...AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WAS LOCATED WEST OF YUMA...WHICH WILL HELP TRIGGER ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING...FROM ABOUT GILA BEND...TO PHOENIX AND EASTWARD TO THE GLOBE/MIAMI AREA. LITTLE OR NO RAINFALL IS EXPECTED...HOWEVER THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE VERY STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS WITH AREAS OF BLOWING DUST. MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO SLOW DOWN AND DRIVE WITH EXTRA CARE THIS EVENING. VISIBILITIES COULD BE LESS THAN 1/4 MILE AT TIMES AND ISOLATED WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 60 MPH. ........................................................................ THE OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN ARIZONA IN CALIFORNIA MARICOPA YUMA IMPERIAL SOUTHERN GILA LA PAZ CENTRAL/EASTERN RIVERSIDE NORTHWEST PINAL
The office that day
Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 2:54 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Maricopa | 61 min |
| Jul 9, 3:55 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Maricopa | 45 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.