Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 41, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 5, 1997Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 5, 1997, 6:09 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 46 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 5, 1997, 6:09 PM MST (01:09 UTC)
Expired: Aug 5, 1997, 6:55 PM MST
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Tucson, AZ
Area: Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:11 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 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 84 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 306 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 3444 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 17 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 060115 COR
SVRTUS
AZC019-060155-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
609 PM MST TUE AUG 5 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 655 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA

   ...WESTERN PIMA COUNTY

AT 607 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 7
MILES SOUTHWEST OF AJO MOVING NOR2TH NORTHEAST AT 12 MPH.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE INTO THE AJO AREA BY 640 PM.

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 5, 2:50 PM MST, 3 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 2:50 PM MST, 3 hours 19 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST TUE AUG 5 1997

SOUNDER DATA SHOWS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INCREASING FROM THE SOUTH
AND EXPECT THAT THIS AFTERNOONS CONVECTION MAY BECOME MORE ACTIVE
NEAR THE BORDER TOWARD THE EVENING.  WILL NEED TO WATCH FOR
NOCTURNAL ACTIVITY TO OUR SOUTH AND WEST DEPENDING ON DEPTH OF
MOISTURE INCREASE AND OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM THIS AFTERNOONS
CONVECTION.  EXPECT MORE ACTIVITY TOMORROW AS LAST NIGHTS MCS
LIKELY GENERATED ANOTHER SURGE OVER THE GULF...AND MM5 MODEL
TURNS LOW LEVEL WINDS TO SOUTHERLY OVER THE ENTIRE GULF.  BOTTOM
LINE IS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE VALUES SHOULD INCREASE OVER SOUTHERN
AZ.

SHORT WAVE OVER THE INTERMOUNTAIN AREA THIS MORNING FORECAST TO
DROP SOUTHEASTWARD AROUND DEVELOPING HIGH WITH DEFORMATION AXIS
FORECAST TO BE OVER SCTRL TO ECTRL AZ TOMORROW.  THIS COULD BE A
FOCUS FOR CONVECTION...BUT WIND FIELD NOT TERRIBLY WELL
ORGANIZED.  NEVERTHELESS...LOW LEVEL MOISTURE SHOULD BE UP SO
EXPECT MORE ACTIVITY THAN WE'VE SEEN TODAY.  REMAINDER OF THE
FORECAST LOOKS MONSOONAL WITH FINE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE BUT NO REAL
GOOD STEERING FLOW.  FOR NOW WILL SIMPLY WORD WITH SCT AFTERNOON
THUNDERSTORMS. TEMPS TO REMAIN SEASONAL.  TUS 4453. DRB

TUS...NONE.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 5, 5:42 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TWC	Cochise, Graham	48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1997 Every 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.