Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 80, NWS Tucson, AZ
NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 23, 1997, 1:48 PM MST for Cochise County, Arizona. It was in force for 32 min. 1 report 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 23, 1997, 1:48 PM MST (20:48 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 23, 1997, 2:20 PM MST
- In force
- 32 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 20:51 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 23, 2:20 PM MST | Tornado F0 | Ft Huachuca, AZ | Tornado captured on video tape touched down in open country for about 50 feet. No damage was observed. |
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, 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 474 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -193 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2261 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 11 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -18 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 71 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 232048 RRA SVRTUS AZC003-232120- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 148 PM MST SAT AUG 23 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 220 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA ...SOUTHWESTERN COCHISE COUNTY AT 147 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF SIERRA VISTA OR 2 MILES NORTH OF FT HUACHUCA MOVING SOUTH AT 5 MPH. SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE... FT HUACHUCA BY 210 PM MST OKULSKI
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 23, 9:30 AM MST, 4 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 23, 9:30 AM MST, 4 hours 18 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 930 AM MST SAT AUG 23 1997 HI PRES ALF OVR THE WHITE MTNS THIS MRNG. DEBRIS CLDS FM AN MCS DRIFTG S ON THE E SIDE OF THE HI. ISOLD TS IN ZN30 EARLIER THIS MRNG ON THE EDGE OF THE ABV MENTIONED SYS. OTHER SIG SYS FOR THE WRN U.S. IS A SEASONABLY STG UPR TROF MOVING TWD THE PAC NW. MODEL GUID INITIALLY MOVS HI CNTR OVR SE AZ TNGT AND THEN NEWD SUN AND MON IN RESPONSE TO THE TROF MOVG INLAND. XPCT A FAIRLY QUIET AFTN AND EVE WITH THE HI MOVG OVHD. CAPE ARND 900 J/KG FOR TUS THIS AFTN. TS THAT DO DVLP WL BE SHORT LIVED PULSE CELLS. BEST CHC OF ACTIVITY IN ZN30 AND SRN ZN28. RATHER TOASTY ONCE AGAIN THIS AFTN WITH TEMPS 6-8 DEGREES ABV NRML. SELY FLOW TO REDVLP SUN/MON AS HI SHIFTS TO NRN NM. TEMPS TO COOL PER LWRG HGTS AND POPS TO INCRS AS MSTR IS ADVECTED INTO THE RGN FM MEX. NO UPDTS PLANNED. TUS 232. OKULSKI TUS...NONE.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 23, 11:43 AM MST, 2 hours 5 minutes before
AZZ019-026>030-232300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1145 AM MST SAT AUG 23 1997...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED
AREAL PROBABILITY RAIN GREATER THAN STORM
COVERAGE OF SEVERE 1.00 2.00 MOTION
COCHISE 40 30 60 20 S 5
GRAHAM 40 30 60 20 E 5
GREENLEE 40 20 60 20 E 5
TUCSON/ERN PIMA 30 20 40 10 E 5
TOHONO OODHAM 20 10 20 10 S 5
WESTERN PIMA 20 10 20 10 W 5
SOUTHEAST PINAL 20 10 30 10 E 5
SANTA CRUZ 40 30 60 10 S 5
SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL REMAIN OVER SOUTHEAST ARIZONA
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SHORT DURATION...SLOW MOVING
THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND BE MOST
NUMEROUS NEAR THE BORDERS OF NEW MEXICO AND MEXICO. THE LOWER
LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE REMAIN MOIST AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL
CAN EXPECTED WITH STRONGER 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/OKULSKIThe office that day
Everything else NWS Tucson, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 23, 4:25 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm 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.