Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 12, NWS Tucson, AZ
NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 3, 1997, 2:35 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 85 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 3, 1997, 2:35 PM MST (21:35 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 3, 1997, 4:00 PM MST
- In force
- 85 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tucson, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
County Pinal County, AZ
The radar
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:34 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, 9.6 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 538 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -107 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1890 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 10 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 43 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTUS 032136 FFWTUS AZC021-032300- BULLETIN FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 235 PM MST SUN AUG 3 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA ...SOUTHEASTERN PINAL COUNTY...SOUTH OF ORACLE AT 230 PM MST...TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THAT HEAVY RAINFALL IS FALLING FROM A STATIONARY THUNDERSTORM SOUTH OF ORACLE. ALMOST ONE INCH HAS FALLEN SINCE 2 PM AT A RAIN GUAGE ON ORACLE RIDGE WHILE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED THAT NEARLY AN INCH AND A HALF HAS FALLEN SINCE 2 PM.
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 3, 2:15 PM MST, 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 3, 2:15 PM MST, 20 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 215 PM MST SUN AUG 3 1997 GETTING A LTL BUSY HERE WITH MAIN AREA OF ACTVTY AT 21Z ACRS ZN28 WHERE FFA WAS JUST ISSUED. LUKS LIKE THIS AREA MAY SEE TRAINING EFFECT WITH STLT PICS SHOWG MORE DVLPMNT S OF OLS. VORT MAX VCNTY OF NRN GLFCA..AS OF 2030Z..MOVG SLOLY N AND WL BE N OF YUM THIS EVENG AND CONT N UP CO RVR VLY TNGT/MON MRNG. PLENTY OF CLD CVR ARND THIS MRNG TO KP TEMPS DOWN BUT DYNAMICS ASSOCD WITH VORT MAX PROVIDING THE NEEDED LIFT. GENLY SCT TS TNGT WITH BEST CHC OF SVR TS W OF TUS WITH BETTER SHEAR PROFILES. OTRW MAIN THREAT WL BE LCLY HVY RNFL AS VERY HIGH PW VALUES SEEN ON MRNG RAOBS AND GOES-9 SOUNDER. SHULD SEE SOME DRYING NXT CPL DAYS BUT WL CONT STANDARD MONSOON FCSTS WITH SCT AFTN/EVENG TSTMS WITH LCLY HVY RNFL THREAT AGN MON/TUE. TEMPS WL BE SLOW TO RECOVER MON/TUS SO WL UNDERCUT MOS BOTH DAYS. TUS 4343. GLUECK TUS...FFA ZN 28 UNTIL 04Z.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 11:50 AM MST, 2 hours 45 minutes before
AZZ019-026>030-032300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1145 AM MST SUN AUG 3 1997...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED.
AREAL PROBABILITY RAIN GREATER THAN STORM
COVERAGE OF SEVERE 1.00 2.00 MOTION
COCHISE 40 10 20 10 NW 15
GRAHAM 40 10 20 10 NW 15
GREENLEE 40 10 20 10 NW 15
TUCSON/ERN PIMA 40 20 20 10 NW 15
TOHONO OODHAM 50 30 30 10 N 15
WESTERN PIMA 70 50 30 10 N 15
SOUTHEAST PINAL 50 20 20 10 NW 15
SANTA CRUZ 40 20 20 10 NW 15
SYNOPSIS...
A SUBTROPICAL WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE THROUGH SOUTHWEST
ARIZONA THIS AFTERNOON. THIS SYSTEM WILL ENHANCE AFTERNOON AND
EVENING THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. THE VERY
MOIST AND UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE REGION MAY ALLOW SOME
STORMS TO PRODUCE OVER 1.00 INCH RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS.
*****************************************************************
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/GLUECKNearby
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.