Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Phoenix, AZ

July 9, 1997Maricopa County, Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1997, 5:26 PM MST for Maricopa County, Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 2 hr. 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
Jul 9, 1997, 5:26 PM MST (00:26 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 1997, 7:30 PM MST
In force
2 hr
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 00:29 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
Jul 9, 6:15 PM MSTThunderstorm Wind 55Gilbert, AZStrong winds snapped several APS power poles near Neely Street and Pinon Way. Wind gust estimated from damage.
Jul 9, 7:09 PM MSTThunderstorm Wind 50Buckeye, AZShingles were blown off roofs and awnings were damaged at several homes.

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

Phoenix, AZ (KPHX), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 34 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Phoenix, AZ at 00:00Z on 1997-07-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 557 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Phoenix, AZ at 00:00Z on 1997-07-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -20 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
557 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-98 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3547 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-10 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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, Jul 9, 3:07 PM MST, 2 hours 19 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 9, 6:22 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa, Pinal68 min
Jul 9, 7:35 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa25 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.