Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 23, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 9, 1997Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 9, 1997, 5:32 PM MST for Pima 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 9, 1997, 5:32 PM MST (00:32 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 1997, 6:35 PM MST
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 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 1997-08-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 187 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 1997-08-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
187 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-38 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2189 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
46 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 100033
FFWTUS
AZC019-100135-

BULLETIN
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
532 PM MST SAT AUG 9 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 635 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA

   ...EAST CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY
 
AT 530 PM MST...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP 5 MILES
WEST OF GREEN VALLEY.  ALTHOUGH THESE STORMS ARE NO LONGER
SEVERE...THEY AREt PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL.  RAINFALL RATES
ARE GREATER THAN 2 INCHES PER HOUR.

DON'T DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED ROADS. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN
AUTOMOBILES.

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 9, 2:30 PM MST, 3 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 9, 2:30 PM MST, 3 hours 2 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST SAT AUG 9 1997

CLDS BROKE LATE MRNG WITH ISOLD TSTMS DVLPG OVR MAINLY HIGHER
TERRAIN. ENVIRONMENTAL FLOW MODIFIED BY LAST NGTS COMPLEX WITH
SWLY STEERING FLOW MERGING INTO MORE PERMANENT FEATURE AS
SHIFTING RDG CONTS THIS TREND. AREAS RECEIVING THE MOST RAINFALL
YDA...GENERALLY ZNS026>028...NOT SHOWING MUCH OF ANYTHING. MORE
STABLE PROFILE EVIDENT ON 12Z RAOB WITH SFC TEMPS STRUGGLING.
ISOLD EVE STORMS (UNORGANIZED ACTIVITY DOING BETTER S OF THE
BORDER) THEN DECRG CLDS. TMW SHUD SEE REBOUND IN AFTN HEATING
ALONG WITH MORE THAN SUFFICIENT LOW LVL MSTR FOR BETTER COVERAGE
AND SUPPORT IN THE VALLEYS. INTERESTING...STG AND DEEP SELY FLOW
ON KYUX VWP.

SWLY FLOW SETTING UP MAY DECR MID LVL MSTR A LTL...BUT LWR LVLS
WILL HANG IN THERE JUST FINE FOR NOW (NGM WRONG). SCT TSTMS WITH
TYPICAL DIURNAL MONSOON FCST INTO THE EXTD. FINE TUNING AS
DETAILS SHOW THEMSELVES. TUS 0343. MEYER

TUS...NONE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 9, 11:53 AM MST, 5 hours 39 minutes before
AZZ019-026>030-092300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1145 AM MST SAT AUG 9 1997...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED

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

COCHISE          20          15          40         10     NE  8
GRAHAM           20          10          30         10     NE  8
GREENLEE         30          10          30         10      N 10
TUCSON/ERN PIMA  10          10          30          5     NE 10
TOHONO OODHAM   20          15          30         10     NE 10
WESTERN PIMA     15          20          30         10     NE 10
SOUTHEAST PINAL   0           0           0          0
SANTA CRUZ       10          10          30          5     NE  8

SYNOPSIS...
COOLER LOWER ATMOSPHERE FROM RAIN OVER THE PAST 24 HRS WITH LESS
AFTERNOON HEATING DUE TO CLOUD COVER WILL PUT A DAMPER ON MOST
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TODAY. ISOLATED STORMS WILL STILL DEVELOP
OVER MAINLY HIGHER TERRAIN...BUT COVERAGE WILL BE FAR LESS THAN
YESTERDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL STILL A CONCERN FOR ANY STORMS
THAT DO FORM.

*****************************************************************
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/MEYER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 9, 6:24 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima51 min
Aug 9, 6:24 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima51 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.