Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 54, NWS Tucson, AZ

September 15, 1997Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 15, 1997, 3:09 PM MST for Pima 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: Sep 15, 1997, 3:09 PM MST (22:09 UTC)
Expired: Sep 15, 1997, 4:10 PM MST
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Tucson, AZ
Area: Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 419 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -173 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1485 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 51 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 152209
FFWTUS
AZC019-152310-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
309 PM MST MON SEP 15 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 410 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA

   ...EASTERN PIMA COUNTY
 
AT 305 PM TUCSON DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH
HEAVY RAIN 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF SAHUARITA MOVING TO THE EAST AT 10
MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING ONE TO TWO INCHES OF
RAIN WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR AND WILL CROSS INTERSTATE 19 AND PIMA
MINE ROAD WITHIN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES.

THIS WARNING DOES NOT AFFECT THE CITY OF TUCSON. DON'T DRIVE INTO
AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD!

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 Sep 15, 2:09 PM MST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 15, 2:09 PM MST, 1 hour before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
210 PM MST MON SEP 15 1997

STORMS STARTING TO GO UP OVER CWA. OUTFLOWS FROM THESE STORMS SHOULD
HELP SET OFF STORMS IN THE VALLEYS. DEW POINTS HOLDING HIGH IN TUS
AND MOISTURE PLENTIFUL. WITH WIND SHEAR EXPECTED TO INCREASE TONIGHT
STORMS SHOULD CONTINUE PAST SUNSET AND IN SOME AREAS UNTIL MORNING.
WITH FAIRLY ACTIVE EVENING EXPECTED THINGS WILL BE A LITTLE COOLER
AND QUIETERB ON TUE...BUT WITH DYNAMICS FROM WEST COAST TROF STILL
POSSIBILITY OF ANOTHER BIG DAY. WILL BRING UP TEMPS A BIT ON WED
WITH CONTINUED SCATTERED POPS AS NOTHING LOOKS STRONG ENOUGH TO
SCOUR OUT PRECIP. TUS 4333. LUDWIG

TUS...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 15, 11:48 AM MST, 3 hours 21 minutes before

AZZ019-026>030-152300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1145 AM MST MON SEP 15 1997...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED

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

COCHISE          30          30          30         10      NE 10
GRAHAM           40          30          40         20      NE 10
GREENLEE         40          30          40         20      NE 10
TUCSON/ERN PIMA  30          35          50         25      NE 12
TOHONO OODHAM   40          30          60         30      NE 15
WESTERN PIMA     40          30          60         30      NE 15
SOUTHEAST PINAL  30          30          45         25      NE 12
SANTA CRUZ       40          40          60         30      NE 10

SYNOPSIS...ABUNDANT MOISTURE LIES OVER THE AREA...WITH THE HIGHEST
MOISTURE VALUES TO THE WEST AND LOWER VALUES TO THE EAST. HEAVY RAIN
IS THE BIGGEST THREAT WITH THESE STORMS AS THEY THRIVE ON DEEP
MOISTURE...ESPECIALLY FROM TUCSON WESTWARD.
*****************************************************************
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/LUDWIG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 15, 2:00 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	TWC	Pinal	60 min
Sep 15, 2:00 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Pinal	60 min
Sep 15, 4:25 PM MST	Flash Flood Warning	TWC	Cochise	90 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1997 Every 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.