Alert archive / California / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 88, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 5, 1997, 4:04 PM PDT for Imperial County, California. It was in force for 61 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
- Sep 5, 1997, 4:04 PM PDT (23:04 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 5, 1997, 5:05 PM PDT
- In force
- 61 min
- Issued by
- NWS Phoenix, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
County Imperial County, CA
The radar
The Yuma radar (KYUX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:03 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 5:02 PM PDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Seeley, CA | Power poles were knocked 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
San Diego, CA (KNKX), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 173 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
- 352 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -462 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1263 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 29 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 64 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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, Sep 5, 1:56 PM PDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-061130- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 145 PM MST/PDT FRI SEP 5 1997 ...MODERATE RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN RIVERSIDE...NORTHWEST IMPERIAL...NORTHERN YUMA AND WESTERN LA PAZ COUNTIES THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... ...SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MARICOPA AND NORTHWEST PINAL COUNTIES TONIGHT... A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS SOUTH-CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE AIRMASS OVER FAR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA IS VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE. THUNDERSTORMS... SOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS...HAIL...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN RESULTING IN LOCALIZED FLOODING...CAN BE EXPECTED OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN RIVERSIDE AND NORTHWEST IMPERIAL COUNTIES IN CALIFORNIA...AS WELL AS OVER PORTIONS OF NORTHERN YUMA AND WESTERN LA PAZ COUNTIES IN ARIZONA...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK AND THE SALTON SEA STATE RECREATIONAL AREA ARE INCLUDED IN THE MODERATE RISK AREA. INDIVIDUAL STORMS WILL MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THE ATMOSPHERE IS ALSO QUITE UNSTABLE OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA. A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER NORTHERN MEXICO WILL MOVE WEST TOWARD SOUTHEAST ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER EAST-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON AND REDEVELOP TOWARD THE WEST AND NORTHWEST. OUTFLOW FROM THESE STORMS WILL GENERATE BLOWING DUST THAT MAY MOVE OVER PORTIONS OF MARICOPA AND NORTHERN PINAL COUNTIES LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE...MAY AFFECT PORTIONS OF THE GREATER PHOENIX METRO...AS WELL AS CASA GRANDE AND GILA BEND ...TONIGHT. DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS. INDIVIDUAL STORMS WILL MOVE TO THE NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH. THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO AFFECT SOME LOCATIONS IN SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE STRONGER STORMS...BUT STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO STAY BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. .................................................................... FOR THE 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 YUMA IMPERIAL NORTHWEST PINAL LA PAZ CENTRAL AND EASTERN RIVERSIDE SOUTHERN GILA .................................................................... GREEN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 4:15 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | La Paz | 60 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in California, 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.