Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 85, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 27, 1997Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 27, 1997, 6:32 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 78 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 27, 1997, 6:32 PM MST (01:32 UTC)
Expired
Aug 27, 1997, 7:50 PM MST
In force
78 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 01:32 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 00:00Z, 1.5 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 1997-08-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 165 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 1997-08-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 14 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
165 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3150 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KTUS 280132 RRA
SVRTUS
AZC019-280250-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
632 PM MST WED AUG 27 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 750 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA

   ...SOUTHWESTERN PIMA COUNTY
 
AT 629 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH
VERY HEAVY RAIN 30 MILES EA(ST..SOUTHEAST OF ORGAN PIPE
CACTUS NATIONAL MONUMENT MOVING NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH.  ADDITIONAL
SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO FORM IN AREA BETWEEN STATE HIGHWAY 86
AND THE MEXICAN BORDER IN SOUTHWEST PIMA COUNTY.

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 27, 2:30 PM MST, 4 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 27, 2:30 PM MST, 4 hours 2 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST WED AUG 27 1997

SEVERAL INTERESTING THINGS GOING ON THIS AFTERNOON. GULF SURGE IN
PROGRESS...AND HAS BEEN FOR LAST 24 HOURS OR SO. UPPER LOW OVER
SOUTHERN GULF HAS NOT DECIDED TO MOVE NORTH YET...AND SINCE
MODELS DONT HANDLE THIS SORT OF THING WELL WE WILL HAVE TO WAIT
AND SEE WHAT IT DOES. THE MAIN TREND OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS
IS FOR THE MOISTURE TO SHIFT EAST AND TO SEE SOME DRYING FROM THE
WEST. WITH STEEP LAPSE RATES FROM TUCSON EASTWARD...ANY MOISTURE
THAT ADVECTS OVER THE AREA COULD SET OFF A TSTORM OR TWO EVEN IN
THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. LOOKS LIKE THURSDAY WILL BE MORE ACTIVE
THAN TODAY AS MOISTURE AND HEATING WILL BOTH BE THERE. THE TREND
IS TOWARD THE STANDARD MONSOON FORECAST ON FRIDAY. TUS 2333.
LUDWIG

TUS...NONE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 27, 8:37 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima33 min
Aug 28, 1:15 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCSanta Cruz60 min
Aug 28, 1:22 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima48 min
Aug 28, 2:07 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima, Santa Cruz88 min
Aug 28, 2:07 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima, Santa Cruz88 min
Aug 28, 4:39 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPinal91 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.