Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 97, NWS Phoenix, AZ

September 9, 1997Yuma County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 9, 1997, 4:36 PM MST for Yuma County, Arizona. It was in force for 64 min. 3 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: Sep 9, 1997, 4:36 PM MST (23:36 UTC)
Expired: Sep 9, 1997, 5:40 PM MST
In force: 64 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 23:38 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Sep 9, 4:43 PM MST	Thunderstorm Wind 55	Marine Air Station, AZ
Sep 9, 4:50 PM MST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Yuma, AZ	Trees blown over in the Yuma foothills. Lattices were blown down and awnings were damaged. Wind speed was estimated.
Sep 9, 5:07 PM MST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	(Yum)Yuma Intl Arpt, AZ	Power poles were knocked down. Wind speed was estimated.

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.

407 
WUUS1 KPHX 092338 RRA
SVRPHX
AZC027-100040-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
436 PM MST TUE SEP 9 1997

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   YUMA COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 540 PM MST

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
   YUMA AND SAN LUIS
 
*  AT 430 PM MST RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
IN THE SOUTHEAST PORTION OF YUMA.  MOVEMENT WAS TO THE
NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH.

DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...HAIL GREATER THAN 3/4 INCH
IN DIAMETER...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN 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 9, 2:52 PM MST, 1 hour 44 minutes before

AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-101130-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
245 PM MST/PDT TUE SEP 9 1997

...A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IN SOUTHWEST ARIZONA AND
SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...A FEW POSSIBLY SEVERE...ARE EXPECTED TO
AFFECT YUMA...FAR WESTERN LA PAZ...AND SOUTHWEST MARICOPA COUNTIES
IN ARIZONA...AS WELL AS EASTERN RIVERSIDE AND IMPERIAL COUNTIES IN
SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS...BLOWING
DUST AND LOCAL HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES.

IN ADDITION...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP IN SOUTHERN GILA
COUNTY...WITH THE STRONGER STORMS GENERATING WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 50
MPH AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN. BLOWING DUST ALONG THE OUTFLOW WINDS FROM
THESE STORMS MAY REACH THE EASTERN PHOENIX METRO AREA THIS EVENING.
ELSEWHERE IN THE OUTLOOK AREA...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED.

THE AIR MASS REMAINS MOIST AND UNSTABLE OVER THE ENTIRE OUTLOOK
AREA. HOWEVER...THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS IN THE
WESTERN PORTION NEAR THE EFFECTS OF AN UPPER DISTURBANCE AND WHERE
INTENSE DAYTIME HEATING HAS TAKEN PLACE. MOST OF LA PAZ COUNTY IS
STILL RECOVERING FROM A RAIN COOLED AIR MASS FROM OVERNIGHT AND
EARLY MORNING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SO THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
LESS NUMEROUS EXCEPT ROUGHLY WEST OF HIGHWAY 95. THUNDERSTORMS WILL
ALSO BE QUITE ACTIVE IN SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY...MAINLY EAST OF GLOBE.
OTHERWISE...THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT OVER THE CENTRAL DESERTS AND
WEST CENTRAL ARIZONA WILL BE DEPENDENT ON COLLIDING OUTFLOW
BOUNDARIES FROM DISTANT STORM COMPLEXES. THIS WOULD BE MOST LIKELY
LATER IN THE EVENING.

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

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

FAUSETT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 8, 5:29 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Pinal	61 min
Sep 8, 6:08 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Pinal	62 min
Sep 8, 6:31 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	PSR	Maricopa	64 min
Sep 8, 6:31 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Maricopa	64 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1997 Every 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.