Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 118, NWS Tucson, AZ
NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 7, 1997, 8:46 AM MST for Pima County, Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 59 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
- Oct 7, 1997, 8:46 AM MST (15:46 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 7, 1997, 9:45 AM MST
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Tucson, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Pima County, AZ, Pinal County, AZ
The nearest sounding before it
Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 73 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 202 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -132 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1944 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 12 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 28 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 45 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
516 WUUS1 KTUS 071548 RRA SVRTUS AZC019-021-071645- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 846 AM MST TUE OCT 7 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 945 AM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA ...CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA ...SOUTHERN PINAL COUNTY AT 839 AM MST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF RED ROCK SOUTHWARD THRU JUST EAST OF SELLS TO 5 MILES WEST OF SAN MIGUEL. MOVEMENT OF STORMS WAS TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS INCLUDE RED ROCK BY 915 AM. MOTORISTS TRAVELING ALONG HIGHWAY 86 BETWEEN THREE POINTS AND CELLS SHOULD BE ALERT TO SEVERE WEATHER AS WELL AS MOTORISTS ALONG I-10 BETWEEN MARANA AND PICACHO. THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND HAIL GREATER THAN 3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER. COLLINS
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 Oct 7, 2:34 AM MST, 6 hours 12 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 7, 2:34 AM MST, 6 hours 12 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 230 AM MST TUE OCT 7 1997 A VIGOROUS PACIFIC TROUGH CONTINUES TO APPROACH ARIZONA FROM THE WEST THIS MORNING...FINALLY SOME RELIEF FROM THE RELENTLESS ARIZONA HEAT IS ON THE WAY. THE MAIN QUESTIONS FOR TODAY ARE TIMING OF THE SURFACE FRONT AND HOW MUCH CLOUD COVER/PRECIP. THE SURFACE FRONT WAS LOCATED BETWEEN YUMA AND TUCSON AT 08 UTC MOVING TO THE EAST AND APPEARS TO BE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. YUMA WAS ALREADY OBSERVING NORTHWEST WINDS AT THE SURFACE AT 0500 UTC WELL IN ADVANCE OF THE 09 TO 12 UTC WINDOW THE 00 UTC NGM MOS GUIDANCE WAS SHOWING. THE AVN NOW APPEARS TO HAVE THE BEST TIMING IN MOVING THE FRONT ACROSS MOST OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA BY LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. FOR THIS REASON HAVE LOWERED HIGHS TODAY AND LOW TEMPS TONIGHT FROM PREVIOUS FORECASTS TO ACCOUNT FOR THE EARLIER ARRIVAL OF THE FRONT. IN ADVANCE OF THE TROUGH MOISTURE IS BEING DRAWN INTO ARIZONA FROM THE SOUTH BUT NOT IN GREAT QUANTITIES. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY IS SHOWING A DECENT MID-LEVEL MOISTURE INTRUSION AND THE SOUNDER PRECIPITABLE WATER PRODUCT IS SHOWING A PW PLUME OF .50 TO .75 INCH ACROSS SOUTHERN ARIZONA. WITH RAPID HEIGHT FALLS AND COOLING ASSOCIATED WITH THE APPROACHING TROUGH...500 MB HEIGHTS LOWER THAN 570 DM BY MID AFTERNOON...COUPLED WITH DAYTIME HEATING SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO TRIGGER SHOWER ACTIVITY AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS. THE FLOW LOOKS MOST PROMISING OVER EXTREME SOUTHEAST ARIZONA WHERE A GOOD SOUTHERLY FETCH IS FORMING. LOOKS LIKE MAINLY A WIND PRODUCER FROM TUCSON WESTWARD WITH THE MAIN PRECIP ACTIVITY OVER ZONES 29...30 AND 19. AS 500 MB TROUGH AXIS SWINGS THROUGH THIS EVENING THERE WILL BE A FEW SNOW SHOWERS IN THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. TUS 220. MCCOLLUM TUS...NONE
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Oct 7, 5:06 AM MST, 3 hours 40 minutes before
AZZ019-026>030-071500- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 500 AM MST MON OCT 6 1997 ...FALL WEATHER IS FINALLY ON THE WAY FOR SOUTHEAST ARIZONA... A VIGOROUS STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS ARIZONA TODAY. THE MAIN IMPACT OF THIS STORM OVER SOUTHEAST ARIZONA WILL BE SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH DEVELOPING BY THE AFTERNOON. BLOWING DUST WITH AREAS OF REDUCED VISIBILITIES COULD BE A PROBLEM IN SOME LOCATIONS. THE COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA TODAY BRINGING WITH IT PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY OVER EASTERN PORTIONS. AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE COOLER...WITH 80S IN THE DESERTS AND MAINLY 60S AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS. THE COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO NEW MEXICO OVERNIGHT WITH DIMINISHING WINDS. IN ITS WAKE A COOL AND DRY AIR MASS WILL RESULT IN THE LOWEST NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURES SINCE SPRING. EXPECT LOWS IN THE UPPER 40S TO LOWER 50S IN DESERT LOCATIONS TO NEAR FREEZING AT THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN ELEVATIONS. SUNNY SKIES WILL RETURN TO SOUTHEAST ARIZONA BY WEDNESDAY. HOWEVER...TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ON THE COOL SIDE...GENERALLY RANGING FROM THE 60S IN THE MOUNTAINS TO THE LOWER 80S ON THE DESERT. MCCOLLUM
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tucson, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 7:58 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima | 62 min |
| Oct 7, 9:45 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima, Pinal | 60 min |
| Oct 7, 10:31 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Santa Cruz | 59 min |
| Oct 7, 10:31 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Santa Cruz | 69 min |
| Oct 7, 11:58 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Cochise | 47 min |
| Oct 7, 12:49 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pinal | 36 min |
| Oct 7, 2:37 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Pima | 88 min |
| Oct 7, 3:54 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Cochise | 91 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.