Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 31, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 1, 1997Cochise County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 1, 1997, 1:49 PM MST for Cochise 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
Aug 1, 1997, 1:49 PM MST (20:49 UTC)
Expired
Aug 1, 1997, 2:50 PM MST
In force
61 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 20:52 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, 8.8 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 1997-08-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 470 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 1997-08-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 5 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
470 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-106 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2151 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
8 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 012050 RRA
SVRTUS
AZC003-012150-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
149 PM MST FRI AUG 1 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 250 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA

   ...CENTRAL COCHISE COUNTY
 
AT 147 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 2
MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF ELFRIDA APPROACHING HWY 191. ANOTHER
STORM WAS ABOUT 10 MILES FARTHER NORTH APPRAOCHING HWY 181. THE
STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH.

THIS STORM MAY PRODUCE WIND SPEEDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL.

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 Aug 1, 9:28 AM MST, 4 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 1, 9:28 AM MST, 4 hours 21 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
830 AM MST FRI AUG 1 1997

12Z TUS SOUNDING SHOWING WARMING AT LOW AND MID LEVELS AND
COOLING AT UPPER LEVELS...GOOD FOR SOME DESTABILIZATION.
CONSIDERABLE MOISTURE INCREASE IN THE PAST 24 HOURS AT MID AND
UPPER LEVELS AND SOME AT LOW LEVELS.  K INDEX A BIG 40 AND PRECIP
WATER UP TO 1.3 INCHES.  WITH MOISTURE AS DEEP AS 500 MB...EXPECT
LESS MIXING THIS AFTERNOON WITH DEW POINTS PROBABLY DROPPING TO
MID 50S.  THIS POINTS TO A MORE ACTIVE DAY THAN YESTERDAY WITH
SOME HEAVY RAIN POTENTIAL. BUT SOUNDING DOES HAVE A SIGNIFICANT
INVERSION ABOVE 500 MB TO OVERCOME.  SHEAR PROFILE NOT THE BEST
FOR TSTM ORGANIZATION...BUT AT LEAST THERE IS NO 50 KT WIND TO
BLOW THE TOPS OFF.  MORNING PLOT FILES SHOWING MORE WESTWARD
MOVEMENT OF THE UPPER HIGH WITH A 595 500 MB HEIGHT OVER
ABQ...AND A 700 MB HIGH CENTER NEAR THE 4 CORNERS.  WELL DEFINED
ELY WAVE OVER SRN GULFCA.

TUS 343.

TUS...NONE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 1, 11:47 AM MST, 2 hours 2 minutes before
AZZ019-026>030-012300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1145 AM MST FRI AUG 1 1997...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED.

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

COCHISE          40          20          20         10     NW 15
GRAHAM           40          20          20         10     NW 15
GREENLEE         40          10          20         10     NW 15
TUCSON/ERN PIMA  40          10          20         10     NW 15
TOHONO OODHAM   30          10          10         10     NW 15
WESTERN PIMA     30          10          10         10     NW 15
SOUTHEAST PINAL  30          10          15         10     NW 15
SANTA CRUZ       40          20          20         10     NW 15

SYNOPSIS...
OUTFLOWS FROM LAST NIGHTS THUNDERSTORMS HAVE INCREASED AND
DEEPENED THE MOISTURE OVER THE AREA. THE ATMOSPHERE IS ALSO MORE
UNSTABLE THAN YESTERDAY. THE POTENTIAL FOR BOTH MOUNTAIN AND
VALLEY THUNDERSTORMS IS BETTER THAN YESTERDAY.  BRIEF HEAVY RAINS
CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. A FEW STORMS MAY PRODUCE
RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OVER 1.00 INCH.
*****************************************************************
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/

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 1, 3:15 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise65 min
Aug 1, 4:49 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima61 min
Aug 1, 4:49 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima61 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.