Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Tucson, AZ
NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 17, 1997, 10:16 AM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 49 min. 2 reports 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
- Aug 17, 1997, 10:16 AM MST (17:16 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 17, 1997, 11:05 AM MST
- In force
- 49 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 17:18 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 11:00 AM MST | Hail 0.75 | Red Rock, AZ | |
| Aug 17, 11:00 AM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Red Rock, 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, 5.3 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 961 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -43 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1293 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 11 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -8 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 162 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTUS 171716 RRA SVRTUS AZC021-171805- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 1016 AM MST SUN AUG 17 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1105 AM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA ...SOUTHERN PINAL COUNTY AT 1014 AM MST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 18 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ELOY HOR 1 MILE EAST OF RED ROCK MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 10 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 17, 9:00 AM MST, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 17, 9:00 AM MST, 1 hour 16 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 900 AM MST SUN AUG 17 1997 MSTR CONTG TO INCR ACRS CWFA...SLY FLOW HAS SET IN ONCE AGN. STG DEWPTS NR MID 60S...1.52 PW MIGHTY HEFTY. EVEN TOO MUCH RIGHT NOW AS CLD COVER CONTS TO SPREAD THRU THE AREA...WITH SOME MID/UPR LVL TROPICAL MSTR STREAMING INTO US FROM ACRS BAJA AS WELL (FROM STRENGTHENING TD GETTING CAUGHT UP IN FLOW). AT LEAST A DELAY IN HEATING THIS MRNG...BUT I WOULD EXPECT ENOUGH BRKS BY THIS AFTN TO CATCH UP A BIT AND REACH CONVECTIVE LVLS...LWR 90S AROUND TUS SHOULD DO IT WITH HELP DISCUSSED BELOW. WELL NEED SOME SUN TO REALLY REACH TDAS STRONG POTENTIAL. UPR LOW OFF SRN CA CST HASNT MADE AS MUCH PROGRESS EWD...AND MAY BE A LTL TOO FAR W FOR MUCH OF OUR PURPOSES TO BEGIN WITH. IMPLS BURIED IN SLY FLOW STREAMING INTO US NOW THOUGH...THAT SHOULD HELP. ALREADY SEEING ISOLD SHWRS/TSTMS. SO MUCH MSTR THAT IF WE FIRE TDA FLASH FLOODING IS A CONCERN WITH VERY WET STORMS. 12Z TUS ROAB HAS PLENTY OF POTENTIAL FOR ALL KINDS OF STUFF. A FEW 1ST PD ADJUSTMENTS ERYR (MORE LATER A STG POSSIBILITY)...GOING TO RIDE HEAVILY WORDED FCST FOR NOW WITH EXPECTATIONS OF THINGS TO COME. GETTING THAT SCARED SMALL FORREST CREATURE FEELING GOING AGN. TUS 443. MEYER TUS...NONE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Tucson, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 7:29 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima | 51 min |
| Aug 17, 1:25 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pinal | 60 min |
| Aug 17, 10:52 AM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Pinal | 93 min |
| Aug 17, 11:06 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pinal | 64 min |
| Aug 17, 12:30 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Pinal | 95 min |
| Aug 17, 12:47 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pinal | 43 min |
| Aug 17, 1:58 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Cochise | 62 min |
| Aug 17, 1:58 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Cochise | 62 min |
| Aug 17, 2:18 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Pima | 92 min |
| Aug 17, 2:18 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TWC | Pima | 92 min |
| Aug 17, 3:05 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | TWC | Cochise | 45 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.