Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 41, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 6, 1998Gila County, Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 6, 1998, 4:57 PM MST for Gila County, Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 63 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 6, 1998, 4:57 PM MST (23:57 UTC)
Expired
Aug 6, 1998, 6:00 PM MST
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

Counties Gila County, AZ, Pinal County, AZ

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:55 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 6, 5:05 PM MSTHail 0.75Globe, AZLarge hail reported at Top of The World, along US 60. Up to 1.10 inches of rain in just 20 minutes. Several tree limbs broken off.
Aug 6, 5:20 PM MSTHail 1Tonto Basin, AZA weather spotter reported one inch diameter hail at Tonto Village.

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

Phoenix, AZ (KPHX), launched 12:00Z, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 83 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, Phoenix, AZ at 12:00Z on 1998-08-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 15 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Phoenix, AZ at 12:00Z on 1998-08-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -30 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
15 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-416 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2419 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
13 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.

053 
WUUS1 KPHX 062359 RRA
SVRPHX
AZC007-021-070050-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
457 PM MST THU AUG 6 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A

*  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
   SOUTH CENTRAL GILA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA
   NORTH CENTRAL PINAL COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 600 PM MST

*  AT 455 PM MST DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
   5 MILES NORTHEAST OF SUPERIOR. MOVEMENT OF THE STORM WAS TO THE
   SOUTHWEST AT 10-15 MPH.

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE
   SUPERIOR
   U.S. 60 EAST OF FLORENCE JUNCTION

DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH AND HAILSTONES AT OR LARGER THAN
THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH IN DIAMETER ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.
BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL AND INTENSE CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING CAN ALSO
BE EXPECTED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 5, 5:56 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa49 min
Aug 5, 11:19 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa61 min
Aug 6, 12:18 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa62 min
Aug 6, 12:52 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa63 min
Aug 6, 1:23 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa92 min
Aug 6, 4:57 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRPinal48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.