Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 123, NWS Tucson, AZ

October 7, 1997Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 7, 1997, 12:49 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 36 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Oct 7, 1997, 12:49 PM MST (19:49 UTC)
Expired
Oct 7, 1997, 1:25 PM MST
In force
36 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 19:51 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 7, 1:30 PM MSTHail 1San Manuel, AZ

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 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 1997-10-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 202 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 1997-10-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

601 
WUUS1 KTUS 071951 RRA
SVRTUS
AZC021-072025-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1249 PM MST TUE OCT 7 1997


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 125 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...SOUTHEASTERN PINAL COUNTY


AT 1248 PM MST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15
MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF ORACLE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
ORACLE                  BY 1259 PM MST

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, 9:37 AM MST, 3 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 7, 9:37 AM MST, 3 hours 12 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
930 AM MST TUE OCT 7 1997

STRONG COLD FRONT MOVING THRU CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY AT THIS TIME
GENERATING A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. MOVEMENT IS
QUITE RAPID...AROUND 35 MPH TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST.

ASSOCIATED SHORT WAVE JUST ENTERING WESTERN AZ AT THIS TIME WITH A
VERY INTENSE VORTICITY MAXIMUM NEAR BLH. MODELS TAKE THIS VORTICITY
MAXIMUM NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS CENTRAL AZ THIS AFTERNOON AND NIGHT.

PRECIPITATION WILL BE IN A NARROW BAND ALONG THE COLD FRONT AND
WILL BE SHORT LIVED AS COLD FRONT MOVING QUITE RAPIDLY EASTWARD.
COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO NEW MEXICO EARLY THIS EVENING. SKIES
WILL CLEAR BEHIND THE FRONT SO SHOWERS WILL END BY EARLY EVENING
OVER FAR EASTERN AZ. WINDS WILL BE QUITE STRONG BUT SHOULD REMAIN
JUST BELOW ADVISORY LEVEL...BUT WILL KEEP A CLOSE WATCH IN CASE AN
ADVISORY IS NEEDED. MUCH COOLER BUT SUNNY WEDNESDAY BEHIND UPPER
TROUGH. CURRENT FORECAST HAS THINGS WELL IN HAND SO NO UPDATES
NEEDED. TUS 220. COLLINS

TUS...NONE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 7, 7:58 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima62 min
Oct 7, 8:46 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima, Pinal59 min
Oct 7, 9:45 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima, Pinal60 min
Oct 7, 10:31 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCSanta Cruz59 min
Oct 7, 10:31 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCSanta Cruz69 min
Oct 7, 11:58 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise47 min
Oct 7, 2:37 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima88 min
Oct 7, 3:54 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise91 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.