Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 7, 1997Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 7, 1997, 6:40 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 60 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 7, 1997, 6:40 PM MST (01:40 UTC)
Expired
Aug 7, 1997, 7:40 PM MST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1997-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 923 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1997-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -8 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
923 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2796 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
26 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.

347 
WUUS1 KTUS 080143 RRA
SVRTUS
AZC019-080240-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
640 PM MST THU AUG 7 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 740 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA

   ...CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY
 
AT 637 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 27
MILES EAST OF SELLS OR 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THREE POINTS MOVING
SOUTHWEST AT 5 MPH. THIS STORM WILL AFFECT PORTIONS OF HWY 286.

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 7, 2:41 PM MST, 3 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 7, 2:41 PM MST, 3 hours 59 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST THU AUG 7 1997

TSTMS DVLPG OVR MTNS THROUGHOUT ERN HALF OF CWFA...SOME LOOKING
ON THE STRONG SIDE (SEVERE JUST S OF NOGALES). LWR ATMOSPHERE
VERY SUPPORTIVE IN PROPAGATION OF OUTFLOW...SOMETHING TO WATCH
FOR THIS EVE. CONVECTIVE TEMPS BARELY REACHED MOST AREAS. WILL IT
RAIN? MAYBE IT WILL AND MAYBE IT WON'T. RIGHT NOW I'M GOING FOR
AN ACTIVE EVENING WITH STORMS COOKING UP THROUGH LATE AFTERNOON
AND SUSTAINED AFTER SUNSET DUE TO AFOREMENTIONED LWR ATMOSPHERE.
SHOULD BE NICE THETA-E AIR OUT THERE WITH FRIENDLY CAPE VALUES.
BUSY TIME FOR THE NEXT SHIFT. COULD BE WASTED CHANCE IF
ABSOLUTELY NO MORE HEATING...JUS T ANOTHER DEGREE OR SO.

SUFFICIENT LWR LVL MSTR RMNS OVR SE AZ FOR AFTN TSTMS WITH
SUFFICIENT HEATING. DETAILS BEING LEACHED OUT 24 HRS AT A TIME.
TUS 4343. MEYER

TUS...NONE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 7, 2:24 PM MST, 4 hours 16 minutes before
AZZ019-026>030-072300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1145 AM MST THU AUG 7 1997...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED

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

COCHISE          40          30          40         15     SW 15
GRAHAM           30          20          30          5      S 15
GREENLEE         35          10          25          5      S 15
TUCSON/ERN PIMA  35          30          35         10     SW 15
TOHONO OODHAM   25          30          25          5     SW 15
WESTERN PIMA     15          20          15          0     SW 12
SOUTHEAST PINAL  25          20          25          5     SW 15
SANTA CRUZ       40          35          40         15     SW 15

SYNOPSIS...
ABUNDANT LOW LVL MOISTURE CONTINUES TO MOVE IN ALONG WITH BETTER
DAYTIME HEATING FOR A LESS STABLE ATMOSPHERE. SHOULD SEE BETTER
AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THAN YESTERDAY...
WITH SOME LOCATIONS STILL DELAYED DUE TO SLOWER HEATING. SOME
STORMS WILL DEVELOP TO SEVERE LEVELS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS FROM THESE
STORMS WILL GENERALLY BE AT OR BELOW 1.00 INCH...WITH HIGHER
ACCUMULATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS.

*****************************************************************
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
Aug 7, 5:44 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima51 min
Aug 7, 7:43 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima62 min
Aug 7, 8:49 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima61 min
Aug 8, 12:38 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCGreenlee47 min
Aug 8, 1:32 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCGreenlee63 min
Aug 8, 1:41 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise, Santa Cruz59 min
Aug 8, 2:53 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCGreenlee62 min
Aug 8, 2:53 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCGreenlee62 min
Aug 8, 2:59 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima, Santa Cruz61 min
Aug 8, 3:40 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCGraham50 min
Aug 8, 3:46 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise49 min
Aug 8, 3:59 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima61 min
Aug 8, 4:37 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima48 min
Aug 8, 4:51 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima34 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.