Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 71, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 16, 1997Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 1997, 7:29 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 51 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 16, 1997, 7:29 PM MST (02:29 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1997, 8:20 PM MST
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 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 1997-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 203 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 00:00Z on 1997-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 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
203 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2556 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
2 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 170229 RRA
SVRTUS
AZC019-170320-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
729 PM MST SAT AUG 16 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 820 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA

   ...CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY
 
AT 728 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 11
MILES NORTHEAST OF SELLS OR 11 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF KIT PEAK
MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

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 16, 2:44 PM MST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 2:44 PM MST, 4 hours 45 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST SAT AUG 16 1997

LOTS OF CU CLEARLY VSBL ON THE SATELLITE PIX WITH TCU/CBS MUCH OF
CWA.  RADAR SHOWS MOST OF THE STORMS TO THE S AND E OF TUS BUT
EXPECT CONTINUED SLOW DEVELOPMENT TO THE W DURING THE REMAINDER
OF THE AFTERNOON.  WARM MID LEVEL TEMPS WILL KEEP CAPE FROM
GETTING TOO HIGH.  SUNDAY APPEARS TO BE A MUCH MORE ACTIVE DAY
AS 7000 FT DEEP SURGE CONTINUES AT YUMA AND LOW TO MID LEVEL
WINDS TURNING SOUTHERLY FOR DEEPER MOISTURE SUPPLY NEAR THE TOP
OF OUR DEEP AFTERNOON BOUNDARY LAYER.  OTHER FACTOR IS THE LOW
OFF THE CA COAST WHICH IS FCST TO SLOWLY MOVE EASTWARD SUNDAY.
THIS SYSTEM SHOULD HELP TO COOL MID LEVEL TEMPS A LITTLE WHICH
WILL HELP TO FURTHER DESTABILIZE ATMOSPHERE.  WILL THEREFORE BE
RATHER AGRESSIVE ON POPS WITH STRONG STORMS SUNDAY
AFTERNOON/EVENING.  TEMPS WILL BE SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL THROUGH
PERIOD.  TUS 2453. DRB

TUS...NONE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 1:25 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal60 min
Aug 17, 10:16 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal49 min
Aug 17, 10:52 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPinal93 min
Aug 17, 11:06 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal64 min
Aug 17, 12:30 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPinal95 min
Aug 17, 12:47 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal43 min
Aug 17, 1:58 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise62 min
Aug 17, 1:58 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise62 min
Aug 17, 2:18 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima92 min
Aug 17, 2:18 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima92 min
Aug 17, 3:05 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise45 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.