Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 27, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 13, 1997Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 13, 1997, 4:04 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 61 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 13, 1997, 4:04 PM MST (23:04 UTC)
Expired
Aug 13, 1997, 5:05 PM MST
In force
61 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 23:04 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, 11.1 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tuscon, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 315 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 1997-08-13The 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
315 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-172 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1854 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
1 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 132305
FFWTUS
AZC021-140005-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
404 PM MST WED AUG 13 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 505 PM
MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...EASTERN PINAL COUNTY
 
AT 403 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH
EXTREMELY HEAVY RAINFALL 22 MILES NORTH OF ORACLE OR 3 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF DUDLEYVILLE MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
DUDLEYVILLE             BY 417 PM MST
WINKELMAN               BY 425 PM MST
HAYDEN                  BY 435 PM MST
 
MEYER

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 13, 11:39 AM MST, 4 hours 25 minutes before
AZZ019-026>030-132300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1145 AM MST WED AUG 13 1997...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED

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

COCHISE          40          20          20         10     E  10
GRAHAM           30          20          20         10     E  10
GREENLEE         40          20          20         10     E  10
TUCSON/ERN PIMA  20          10          10         10     E  10
TOHONO OODHAM   20          10          10         10     E  10
WESTERN PIMA     10          10          10          0     E  10
SOUTHEAST PINAL  20          20          20         10     E  10
SANTA CRUZ       30          20          20         10     E  10

SYNOPSIS...
THE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE TODAY IS THE GREATEST OVER FAR
SOUTHEASTERN AZ...ESPECIALLY COCHISE COUNTY. HOWEVER...SATELLITE
DOES SHOW SOME DRYING GOING ON IN MEXICO SOUTHEAST OF DOUGLAS. SO
THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE MOUNTAINS...BUT MAY HAVE A
HARD TIME MOVING INTO THE VALLEY LOCATIONS.  THERE IS ENOUGH
INSTABILITY THAT THE STRONGEST STORMS MAY PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN
AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.
*****************************************************************
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 13, 4:04 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal61 min
Aug 13, 4:32 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise58 min
Aug 13, 4:57 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima63 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.