Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 14, 1997Maricopa County, Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this tornado warning at Aug 14, 1997, 7:44 PM MST for Maricopa County, Pinal County, Arizona. 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
Aug 14, 1997, 7:44 PM MST (02:44 UTC)
Expired
Aug 14, 1997, 8:45 PM MST
In force
61 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 02:47 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
Aug 14, 8:30 PM MSTThunderstorm Wind 50Superior, AZPart of a trailer roof was blown off. Signs along a road were blown 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

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1997-08-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 435 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-08-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 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
435 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2878 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
13 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 150246 RRA
TORPHX
AZC013-021-150345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
744 PM MST THU AUG 14 1997

*  TORNADO WARNING FOR
   EAST CENTRAL MARICOPA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA
   NORTHERN PINAL COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 845 PM MST

*  LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO ARE
   CHANDLER
   GILBERT
   QUEEN CREEK
   SUN LAKES
   AHWATUKEE
   EAST PHOENIX
   TEMPE
   MESA 
   GUADALUPE
   SCOTTSDALE
   FLORENCE
   FLORENCE JUNCTION
   CHANDLER HEIGHTS
   CASA GRANDE
   COOLIDGE
 
*  AT 730 PM MST THE PUBLIC REPORTED THREE FUNNEL CLOUDS IN THE CASA
GRANDE AREA. A SPOTTER REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR THE SUN LAKES
AREA AT 730 PM AS WELL.
 

&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 14, 6:22 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa88 min
Aug 14, 7:18 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRPinal87 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arizona, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.