Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 83, NWS Tucson, AZ
NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 26, 1997, 3:04 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 26, 1997, 3:04 PM MST (22:04 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 26, 1997, 3:55 PM MST
- In force
- 51 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 22:07 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 12:00Z, 10.1 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 718 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -165 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2056 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 6 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -27 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -2 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
315 WUUS1 KTUS 262205 RRA SVRTUS AZC019-262255- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 304 PM MST TUE AUG 26 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 355 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA ...SOUTH CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY AT 303 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 18 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SELLS OR 9 MILES NORTHEAST OF SAN MIGUEL MOVING NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH. 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 26, 2:30 PM MST, 34 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 2:30 PM MST, 34 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 230 PM MST TUE AUG 26 1997 THE LINE SEPARATING THE MOIST AND DRY AIR MASSES IS VERY EVIDENT WHEN LOOKING AT VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY AND EXTENDS APPROXIMATELY FORM NOGALES THRU TUCSON TO CASA GRANDE WITH DRIER AIR TO THE EAST AND MOIST AIR TO THE WEST. LOOKING AT WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND SOUNDER PW VALUES SHOWS THIS LINE IS ABOUT STATIONARY...AND DONT EXPECT IT TOO MOVE MUCH FURTHER WEST AS FLOW AROUND UPPER HIGH TO THE EAST AND UPPER TROUGH OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST BATTLING TO A STANDSTILL. SO FOR TONIGHT WILL GO WITH ISOLATED MOUNTAIN THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EASTERN ZONES AND SCATTERED IN THE WEST. WATER VAPOR PICTURES SHOWS SOME MID-LEVEL MOISTURE ROTATING AROUND UPPER HIGH AND WILL BEGIN MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST AZ TONIGHT. SO THINK THEIR WILL BE A LITTLE MORE ACTIVITY OVER OUR EASTERN AREAS NEXT TWO DAYS...BUT PROBABLY NOT ENOUGH TO GO ABOVE ISOLATED COVERAGE IN THE ZONES...BUT WILL NEED TO BE WATCHED BY LATER SHIFTS. DONT SEE THE MOISTURE IN THE WESTERN ZONES GOING ANYWHERE...AND PROBABLY WILL SEE A LITTLE INCREASE PER WEAK SURGE TAKING PLACE AT YUM...SO WILL CONTINUE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE THERE NEXT TWO DAYS. TUS 0222. COLLINS TUS...NONE
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 26, 11:51 AM MST, 3 hours 13 minutes before
AZZ019-026>030-262300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1145 AM MST TUE AUG 26 1997...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED
AREAL PROBABILITY RAIN GREATER THAN STORM
COVERAGE OF SEVERE 1.00 2.00 MOTION
COCHISE 10 40 10 0 NW 10
GRAHAM 10 40 10 0 NW 10
GREENLEE 20 40 20 0 NW 10
TUCSON/ERN PIMA 30 30 30 10 N 10
TOHONO OODHAM 40 30 60 20 N 10
WESTERN PIMA 40 30 70 30 N 10
SOUTHEAST PINAL 30 30 30 10 N 10
SANTA CRUZ 30 30 30 10 N 10
SYNOPSIS...A DISTINCE MOISTURE BOUNDRY EXISTS ACROSS THE AREA
TODAY. THE DRIER AIR IS GENERALLY FROM TUCSON EASTWARD WITH VERY
MOIST AIR TO THE WEST. THE MAIN THREAT FROM STORMS THAT FORM IN
THE DRIER AIR TO THE EAST WOULD BE STRONG GUSTY WINDS WHILE HEAVY
RAIN WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM STORMS IN THE WEST.
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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/COLLINSNearby
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.