Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 11, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 2, 1997Cochise County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 2, 1997, 3:22 PM MST for Cochise County, Arizona. It was in force for 63 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 2, 1997, 3:22 PM MST (22:22 UTC)
Expired
Aug 2, 1997, 4:25 PM MST
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Cochise County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:22 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 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 113 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 12:00Z on 1997-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 111 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tuscon, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -17 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
111 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-226 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1554 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
9 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 022225
FFWTUS
AZC003-022325-

BULLETIN
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
322 PM MST SAT AUG 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 425 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA

   ...NORTHWESTERN COCHISE COUNTY
 
AT 320 PM...THUNDERSTORMS 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BENSON HAD PRODUCED
UP TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN IN THE PAST HOUR.  NORMALLY DRY WASHES IN THE
VICINITY OF ST DAVID AND HIGHWAY 80 WILL BE FLOWING AND RISING
RAPIDLY WITHIN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES.

DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD!

BRYANT

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 2, 2:34 PM MST, 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 2, 2:34 PM MST, 48 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST SAT AUG 2 1997

FIRST TSTM DEVELOP SHORTLY AFTER NOON. SOME ECHO TOPS OVER 50K
FT...BUT SLOW TO DEVELOP. AAT 2 PM STILL ONLY 95 AT TUS.
850 MB INVERTED TROUGH OVER SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA AND FORECAST TO
REMAIN OVER SW AZ.  WELL DEFINED WAVE OVER GULF CA MOVING NWD
POSSIBLY INTO SWRN AZ TONIGHT.  UPPER HIGH TO REMAIN IN FAVORABLE
MONSOON POSITION OVER CO AREA. SEE ONLBY MINOR FLUCTUATIONS IN LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE...THUS WILL CONTINUE STANDARD MONSOON THROUGH
MONDAY.  TUS 333.

TUS...NONE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 2, 11:46 AM MST, 3 hours 36 minutes before
AZZ019-026>030-012300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1145 AM MST SAT AUG 2 1997...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED.

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA FROM NOON UNTIL
MIDNIGHT...

                AREAL    PROBABILITY   RAIN GREATER THAN   STORM
              COVERAGE    OF SEVERE     1.00       2.00    MOTION

COCHISE          50          20          20         10     NW 15
GRAHAM           40          20          20         10     NW 15
GREENLEE         50          10          20         10     NW 15
TUCSON/ERN PIMA  40          20          20         10     NW 15
TOHONO OODHAM   30          10          10         10     NW 15
WESTERN PIMA     30          10          10         10     NW 15
SOUTHEAST PINAL  30          10          15         10     NW 15
SANTA CRUZ       40          20          20         10     NW 15

SYNOPSIS...
THE ATMOSPHERE TODAY IS EVEN MORE MOIST AND UNSTABLE THAN
YESTERDAY.  WITH MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES THIS MORNING...THERE WILL BE
PLENTY OF HEATING TO INITIATE MORE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS THIS
AFTERNOON. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE HEAVY RAINFALL AND LOCAL
FLOODING. SOME STORMS MAY PRODUCE RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OVER
1.00 INCH.
*****************************************************************
KEY...
AREAL COVERAGE - PERCENT OF COUNTY OR AREA THAT WILL EXPERIENCE
                  THUNDERSTORMS
PROB OF SEVERE - THE PROBABILITY THAT ANY ONE OF THE STORMS WILL
                  REACH SEVERE LEVELS (DAMAGING WIND AND/OR
                  LARGE HAIL)
RAIN GRTR THAN - THE PROBABILITY THAT ANY ONE OF THE STORMS WILL
                  PRODUCE RAIN EXCEEDING 1 INCH OR 2 INCHES IN
                  ANY LOCATION
STORM MOTION   - GENERAL DIRECTION TO WHICH THE STORMS WILL
                  LIKELY MOVE AND SPEED IN MPH

NOTE...
VALID TIME IS FROM 12 NOON TO 12 MIDNIGHT OF THE DAY OF ISSUANCE

THIS PRODUCT IS NOT TO BE USED IN PLACE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OR
FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS OR WATCHES. THIS PRODUCT IS ONLY USED FOR
OUTLOOK PURPOSES.

END/

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 1, 6:33 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima57 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.