Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 59, NWS Tucson, AZ

September 21, 1997Cochise County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 21, 1997, 3:33 PM MST for Cochise County, Arizona. It was in force for 62 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 21, 1997, 3:33 PM MST (22:33 UTC)
Expired
Sep 21, 1997, 4:35 PM MST
In force
62 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 22:36 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, 10.6 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 1997-09-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 393 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 1997-09-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 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
393 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-206 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1697 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
193 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KTUS 212235
FFWTUS
AZC003-212335-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
333 PM MST SUN SEP 21 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 435 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA

   ...WESTERN COCHISE COUNTY
 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EXTENDED FOR WESTERN COCHISE COUNTY UNTIL 430
PM MST.

VERY HEAVY RAINFALL FROM THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON PRODUCED
LOCALIZED RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES.  THE STORMS ARE
WEAKENING...BUT AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN CONTINUE OVER WESTERN COCHISE
COUNTY AND WASHES AND STREAMS WILL CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE FLASH
FLOODING.

AREAS HARDEST HIT BY THE RAINFALL ARE AROUND SIERRA VISTA
WHERE FLOODING WAS REPORTED...JUST EAST OF BENSON...AND A REMOTE
AREA IN NORTHWEST COCHISE COUNTY. 

EXPECT RISES IN THE SAN PEDRO RIVER THIS AFTERNOON ALTHOUGH WATER
IN THE SAN PEDRO SHOULD REMAIN WITHIN ITS BANKS.

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 21, 2:08 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima42 min
Sep 21, 4:03 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima, Pinal67 min
Sep 21, 4:39 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCGraham61 min
Sep 21, 7:35 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise, Pima30 min
Sep 21, 12:56 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise94 min
Sep 21, 12:56 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise94 min
Sep 21, 2:16 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise64 min
Sep 21, 2:16 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise64 min
Sep 21, 2:28 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise, Graham62 min
Sep 21, 2:28 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise, Graham62 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.