Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 10, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 1, 1997Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 1, 1997, 6:33 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 57 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
Aug 1, 1997, 6:33 PM MST (01:33 UTC)
Expired
Aug 1, 1997, 7:30 PM MST
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:32 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 84 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 1997-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 115 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 1997-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -26 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
115 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-180 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2370 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-29 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 KTUS 020134
FFWTUS
AZC019-020230-

BULLETIN
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
633 PM MST FRI AUG 1 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
LOCATION...

IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA

   ...EASTERN PIMA COUNTY...EXTREME SOUTHEAST TUCSON
 
AT 625 PM MST..TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW MODERATE
TO HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS EXTREME SOUTHEAST TUCSON. STORMS CONTINUE
TO DEVELOP SOUTHEAST OF THIS AREA ACROSS THE EMPIRE AND WETSTONE
MOUNTAINS. MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS
AND THEY MAY MOVE ACROSS THE FLASH FLOOD AREA AFTER 700 PM. THUS THE
FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 730 PM MST.

EARLIER..THE PANTANO WASH AT HARRISON HAS BEEN REPORTED TO BE
FLOODING.

GLUECK

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tucson, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Aug 1, 2:30 PM MST, 4 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 1, 2:30 PM MST, 4 hours 3 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST FRI AUG 1 1997

TSTMS BEGAN SHORTLY BEFORE NOON IN COCHISE COUNTY WHERE THE
LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WAS THE GREATEST. DEVELOPMENT WAS MUCH MORE
RAPID THAN YESTERDAY WITH ECHO TOPS UP TO 54K FT.  HAVE HAD ONE
SPOTTER REPORT OF 1.5 INCH OF RAIN. ETA SHOWING POTENTIAL FOR
CONVECTIVE COMPLEX OVER NWRN MEXICO TO POSSIBLY ADD MORE LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE TONIGHT. MM5 INCREASING PRECIP WATER TO 1.5 INCHES
TONIGHT. MODELS CONTINUING TO MOVE UPPER HIGH WESTWARD TO CO BY
SUN. WITH SELY FLOW...MOISTURE AT 700 AND 500 MB TO MAINTAIN OR
INCREASE. MOVEMENT OF HIGH CENTER MAY PRODUCE WIND PROFILE MORE
FAVORABLE TO SEVERE WEATHER...BUT THAT IS TOO FAR AHEAD.  ETA
KEEPS RELATIVLY DRIER AIR OVER FAR SW AZ FOR A VERY STRONG
MOISTURE GRADIENT THAT AREA ON SAT.  WILL THIS BE A FOCUSING
MECHANISM...
TUS 4343

TUS...NONE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 1, 2:49 PM MST, 3 hours 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
249 PM MST FRI AUG 1 1997

AZZ028-020355-

...DUST DEVILS NEAR GREEN VALLEY...

A FEW STRONG DUST DEVILS ARE OCCURING SOUTH OF TUCSON IN THE GREEN
VALLEY AREA.  DUST DEVILS ARE CAPABLE OF WINDS TO 40 MPH. EXPECT
BLOWING DUST AND FLYING DEBRIS NEAR THESE DUST DEVILS.
Special weather statement, Aug 1, 2:50 PM MST, 3 hours 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
249 PM MST FRI AUG 1 1997

AZZ028-020355-

...DUST DEVILS NEAR GREEN VALLEY...

A FEW STRONG DUST DEVILS ARE OCCURING SOUTH OF TUCSON IN THDE GREEN
VALLEY AREA.  DUST DEVILS ARE CAPABLE OF WINDS TO 40 MPH. EXPECT
BLOWING DUST AND FLYING DEBRIS NEAR THESE DUST DEVILS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 1, 5:55 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima35 min
Aug 2, 3:22 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise63 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1997Every flash flood 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.