Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 15, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 7, 1998Pima County, Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 7, 1998, 5:53 PM MST for Pima County, Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 2 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 7, 1998, 5:53 PM MST (00:53 UTC)
Expired
Jul 7, 1998, 7:55 PM MST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

Counties Pima County, AZ, Pinal County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 73 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 1998-07-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 672 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 1998-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 32 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
672 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1802 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTUS 080055
FFWTUS
AZC019-021-080255-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
553 PM MST TUE JUL 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN AND EASTERN PIMA COUNTY IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA
  SOUTHEASTERN PINAL COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
  INCLUDING THE TUCSON METRO AREA

* UNTIL 755 PM MST

* AT 555 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICAPTED A
  LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM CASA GRANDE TO TUCSON TO VAIL...
  MOVING SLOWLY SOUTHWEST.

  VPH

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 flash flood warning went out at Jul 7, 2:25 PM MST, 3 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 7, 2:25 PM MST, 3 hours 28 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
225 PM MST TUE JUL 7 1998

SYNOPSIS...MONSOONAL FLOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA
OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN BY THE END OF
THE WEEK RESULTING IN WARMER AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES.

DISCUSSION...I JUST CANT FIND ANY REASON TO DRY US OUT. AT LEAST THE
TREND FOR THE NOCTURNAL STORMS APPEARS OVER. BUT WE DONT NEED MUCH
HEATING FOR TODAY TO GET STORMS GOING AND WITH NORTHERRLY FLOW ALOFT
STORMS FORMING ON THE RIM SHOULD MOVE DOWN HERE. HI PW VALUES WILL
LIKELY LEAD TO HEAVY RAINFALL WITH STORMS THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING AND
EARLIER ISSUED FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR SE PINAL...CENTRAL AND EASTERN
PIMA...AND SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES UNTIL 6 PM MST/01Z. MAYBE A LITTLE
MID LVL DRYING AS TROF DROPS DOWN ALONG WEST COAST IN NEXT 48 HRS.
THIS MAY PUT US IN AN UP DAY DOWN DAY SCENARIO FOR LOW DESERTS BUT
EXPECT MTNS TO BE ACTIVE EACH DAY. FARTHER DOWN THE RORAD PATTERN
LUKS FAVORABLE FOR MONSOON CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE.

TUS 6343. HOLBROOK/GLUECK

.TWC...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 01Z/6PM MST FOR ZONES 29...32>34.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 7, 12:48 PM MST, 5 hours 5 minutes before
AZZ019-026>030-080700-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1245 PM MST TUE JUL 06 1998...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED

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

COCHISE          60           5          50         30     S 10
GRAHAM           60           5          50         30     S 10
GREENLEE         70           5          60         40     S 10
TUCSON/ERN PIMA  70           5          80         50     SW 10
TOHONO OODHAM   50           5          80         50     SW 10
WESTERN PIMA     40           5          40         30     SW 10
SOUTHEAST PINAL  60           5          80         50     SW 10
SANTA CRUZ       90           5          70         50     S  10

SYNOPSIS...
VERY MOIST ATMOSPHERE TODAY AND UNLIKE DAY AFTER EVENTS IN THE PAST
WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH SURFACE HEATING TO GENERATE THUNDERSTORMS OVER
THE VALLEYS. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL START OVER THE MOUNTAINS FIRST
AND BUILD SOUTHWEST INTO THE OPEN DESERT. SLOW MOVEMENT AND TONS OF
MOISTURE ADD UP TO HIGH PROBABILITY OF HEAVY RAIN. EASTERN ZONES MAY
BE SLOW TO GO DUE TO PERSISTENT CLOUD DECK. NO GRAPHIC PRODUCT
TODAY.
*****************************************************************
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 12:45 PM 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. CORRESPONDING GRAPHICS MAY BE FOUND ON THE NWS
TUCSON INTERNET PAGE AT
HTTP://NIMBO.WRH.NOAA.GOV/TUCSON/SWO/SWO.SHTML

END/

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 7, 7:51 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima, Pinal69 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1998Every flash flood 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.