Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 92, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 29, 1997Greenlee County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 29, 1997, 4:57 PM MST for Greenlee County, Arizona. It was in force for 48 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 29, 1997, 4:57 PM MST (23:57 UTC)
Expired
Aug 29, 1997, 5:45 PM MST
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Greenlee County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 196 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:57 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, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 194 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 12:00Z on 1997-08-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 110 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 12:00Z on 1997-08-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -55 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
110 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-262 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1900 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
62 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 292357 RRA
SVRTUS
AZC011-300045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
457 PM MST FRI AUG 29 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON AZ HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA

   ...NORTHERN GREENLEE COUNTY
 
AT 455 PM MST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
14 MILES NORTH OF MORENCI MOjVING SOUTHWEST AT 5 MPH. THIS STORM WAS
ALONG U.S. HIGHWAY 191 WITH POSSIBLE WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH...3/4
INCH DIAMETER HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN.

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 29, 2:30 PM MST, 2 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 29, 2:30 PM MST, 2 hours 27 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST FRI AUG 29 1997

TODAY IS GOING LIKE EXPECTED WITH DOWN DAY ACROSS MOST OF AREA.
STILL HAVE NOT SEEN BIG STORMS IN ERN ZONES EXCEPT FOR WHITES AND
MSTR MAY BE TO MEAGER THERE TO GET ANY TODAY. BUT BETTER THERE
THAN WEST AND WILL LEAVE POPS ALONE THO BACK OFF ON HEAVY RAIN
WORDING.

WITH SURGE ONGOING EXPECT SAT TO BE GOOD DAY...UPR LOW WEST OF
SRN TIP OF BAJA WILL STILL PLACE SE AZ AND NRN MEX IN ZONE OF UPR
LVL DIVERGENCE AND HEATING WILL BE GOOD. HAD SOME CONCERN THAT
ANY STORMS DEVELOPING IN MEX TONIGHT WOULD MOVE INTO THIS AREA
LATE BUT JUST LUKS TOO STABLE THERE TODAY.

AS TO THE UPR LOW...ITS SITTING OVR WARM WATER AND MAY WARM FROM
BELOW WITH CONVECTION. MAY ACQUIRE SOME TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS
OVR THE WEEKEND. STILL EVEN IF IT DID DEVELOP SYNPOTIC FLOW IS
MUCH MORE IMPORTANT.

MONSOON PATTERN STAYS WITH US THRU NEXT WEEK. TUS 2442. HOLBROOK

TUS...NONE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 29, 11:45 AM MST, 5 hours 12 minutes before
AZZ019-026>030-292300-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1145 AM MST FRI AUG 29 1997...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED

                AREAL    PROBABILITY   RAIN GREATER THAN   STORM
              COVERAGE    OF SEVERE     1.00       2.00    MOTION

COCHISE          50          30          40         15     NW  12
GRAHAM           30          20          30         10     NW  12
GREENLEE         40          25          20         10     NW  12
TUCSON/ERN PIMA  20          15          25         15     NW  12
TOHONO OODHAM   15          10          25         15     N   10
WESTERN PIMA     15          10          25         10     N   10
SOUTHEAST PINAL  15          10          25         10     NW  12
SANTA CRUZ       30          20          30         20     NW  12

SYNOPSIS...A RAIN COOLED LOWER ATMOSPHERE IS EXPECTED TO HELP
STABILIZE THE AIRMASS AND RETARD THUNDERSTORMS TODAY OVER WESTERN
PORTIONS OF THE AREA WHILE EASTERN ZONES WILL SEE AN INCREASE IN
ACTIVITY. SEVERE STORMS WITH HEAVY RAINFALL AND LOCALIZED
FLOODING IS A CONCERN IN THE AREA FROM SIERRA VISTA TO WILLCOX TO
DOUGLAS.
*****************************************************************
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/HOLBROOK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 28, 5:00 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima2 hr
Aug 28, 5:00 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima2 hr
Aug 28, 5:58 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima92 min
Aug 28, 5:58 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima92 min
Aug 28, 7:29 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima91 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.