Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 108, NWS Tucson, AZ

September 20, 1997Cochise County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 20, 1997, 3:42 PM MST for Cochise County, Arizona. It was in force for 48 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 20, 1997, 3:42 PM MST (22:42 UTC)
Expired
Sep 20, 1997, 4:30 PM MST
In force
48 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 22:44 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, 10.7 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 1997-09-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 100 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 12:00Z on 1997-09-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -4 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
100 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-309 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2339 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
94 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

265 
WUUS1 KTUS 202244 RRA
SVRTUS
AZC003-202330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
342 PM MST SAT SEP 20 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA

   ...CENTRAL COCHISE COUNTY
 
AT 341 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
8 MILES SOUTH OF DRAGOON MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
DRAGOON                 BY 405 PM MST
SUNSITES                BY 417 PM MST

GLUECK

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Sep 20, 2:33 PM MST, 1 hour 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 20, 2:33 PM MST, 1 hour 9 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST SAT SEP 20 1997

SCT SHWRS AND TSTMS FROM TUS EWD...ONE OR TWO ON THE STG SIDE. NOT
ENUF MSTR FOR WRN PTNS TO GET GOING...MSTR NOT REALLY THAT GREAT FOR
THE E EITHER. COOLING IN MID LVLS HELPED A BIT TDA WITH NICE MSTR
GRAD. BEST CHC OF TSTM ACTIVITY SHOULD REMAIN IN ERN ZNS FOR NOW.
STGR SWLY FLOW DVLPG WITH TROF OVR GRT BASIN AND RDG TO OUR SE.
FINAL REMAINS OF LINDA BEING DRAWN UP INTO LOW THRU WRN/NRN AZ ATTM.
TROF IS BEGINNING TO HELP ERN PAC AREAS SW OF AZ TO DRY OUT A
BIT...BUT STILL A FEW POCKETS OF MSTR THERE BLO H7 AS PER GOES PW
ESTIMATES. I LIKE MDL ADVERTISEMENT OF TIGHT MSTR GRAD ACRS ERN
AZ...WITH DRY W OF TUS AND INCRG MSTR E OF TUS. BEST INFLUENCE OF
TROF SHOULD REMAIN N OF US...BUT SOME PVA MOVG IN NXT TWO DAYS MAY
INCR CHC TSTM ACTIVITY THRU OTHER PORTIONS OF OUR CWFA. MSTR MAY BE
A LIMITING FACTOR. SOME WK HGT/THKNS FALLS BUT NOT A WHOLE LOT OF
COOLING. SOME TRAINING ORGANIZATION WITH STORMS TONIGHT. PERSISTANCE
PAST THE TRADITIONAL EVENING VERBAGE A STRONG POSSIBILITY.

WE MAY SEE NORA IN THE EXTD. OFFICIAL FCST TRACK PUTTING HER IN A
POSITION THAT MAY ULTIMATELY BOTHER US AROUND MID WEEK. DETAILS AS
PER PHX SFD/SFP. TUS 3332. MEYER

TUS...NONE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 20, 11:26 AM MST, 4 hours 16 minutes before
AZZ019-026>030-202300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1145 AM MST SAT SEP 20 1997...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED

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

COCHISE          35          20          35          0     NE 12
GRAHAM           30          20          30          0     NE 15
GREENLEE         40          20          30          0     NE 15
TUCSON/ERN PIMA  30          25          30          0     NE 15
TOHONO OODHAM   15          25          15          0     NE 18
WESTERN PIMA     10          30          15          0     NE 18
SOUTHEAST PINAL  20          25          25          0     NE 18
SANTA CRUZ       25          25          30          0     NE 15

SYNOPSIS...MOISTURE REMAINS SCARCE IN WESTERN AREAS TODAY WITH A
BETTER CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AS YOU MOVE INTO EASTERN PORTIONS.
THE DIVIDING LINE APPEARS TO BE NEAR TUCSON. STRONG WINDS ALOFT WILL
KEEP STORMS MOVING FAIRLY RAPIDLY WITH INDIVIDUAL STORMS PRODUCING
LESS THAN .75 OF AN INCH...BUT TODAY LOOKS LIKE A DAY FOR SOME
TRAINING EFFECTS. THIS MEANS THAT IF YOU GET ONE STORM...YOU HAVE A
GOOD CHANCE TO GET MORE. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS COULD APPROACH AN
INCH OR MORE FROM MULTIPLE STORMS IN SOME LOCATIONS...GENERALLY FROM
TUCSON EASTWARD. WATCH FOR 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/MEYER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 20, 2:17 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1997Every severe thunderstorm 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.