Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 90, NWS Phoenix, AZ

September 5, 1997Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 5, 1997, 5:48 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 62 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 5, 1997, 5:48 PM MST (00:48 UTC)
Expired
Sep 5, 1997, 6:50 PM MST
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pinal County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 92 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, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1997-09-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 62 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1997-09-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 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
62 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-47 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3169 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPHX 060049 RRA
SVRPHX
AZC021-060150-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
548 PM MST FRI SEP 5 1997

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   NORTH CENTRAL PINAL COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 650 PM MST

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
   US 60
   FLORENCE JUNCTION
   QUEEN VALLEY
 
*  AT 545 PM MST RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
   5 MILES WEST OF SUPERIOR.  MOVEMENT WAS TO THE WEST AT
   10 TTO 15 MPH.

DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH ALONG WITH HEAVY RAINFALL AND
DENSE BLOWING DUST 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

Special weather statement, Sep 5, 1:56 PM MST, 3 hours 52 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 5, 5:38 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRLa Paz, Yuma2 hr
Sep 5, 6:37 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRLa Paz, Yuma68 min
Sep 5, 7:53 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.