Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 27, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 22, 1998Santa Cruz County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 22, 1998, 9:47 AM MST for Santa Cruz County, Arizona. It was in force for 3 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 22, 1998, 9:47 AM MST (16:47 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1998, 12:50 PM MST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Santa Cruz County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 72 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 1998-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 844 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 1998-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 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
844 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1063 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
2 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 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 221649
FFWTUS
AZC023-221950-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
947 AM MST WED JUL 22 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA

* UNTIL 1250 PM MST

* AT 950 AM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN NORTHEAST THROUGH
  SOUTHEAST OF NOGALES...MOVING WEST AT 10 MPH.
JD

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 22, 9:30 AM MST, 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 9:30 AM MST, 17 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
930 AM MST WED JUL 22 1998

SYNOPSIS...A SUBTROPICAL WEATHER DISTURBANCE MOVING NORTH TOWARD
SOUTHERN ARIZONA WILL SPREAD THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN ACROSS
MUCH OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS. HIGH PRESSURE
OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION WILL ALLOW A VERY MOIST MONSOONAL FLOW
TO PERSIST OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST THROUGH THE END OF THIS WEEK.

DISCUSSION...WATER VAPOR SATELLITE IMAGERY AND THE MORNING ETA MODEL
GUIDANCE SHOW AN INVERTED TROUGH MOVING NORTHWARD ALONG THE GULF OF
CALIFORNIA COAST. THIS TROUGH IS FORECAST TO MAKE IT INTO SOUTHERN
ARIZONA BY THE LATE AFTERNOON. FORCING FROM THIS SYSTEM WAS CAUSING
AN ORGANIZED COMPLEX OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE FROM
NORTHERN SONORA TO SOUTHERN PINAL COUNTY AT 9 AM. THESE STORMS WERE
MOVING VERY SLOWLY TO THE NORTHWEST.

PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES IN EXCESS OF 1.5 INCHES OVER THE REGION
AND THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WERE LEADING TO EXCESSIVE
RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN THE STRONGEST STORMS PER SPOTTER REPORTS AND
RADAR ESTIMATES. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR AREAS UNDERNEATH
THE THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX. SEVERAL FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS AND SMALL
STREAM FLOOD ADVISORIES WERE IN EFFECT AT THE TIME THIS DISCUSSION
WAS ISSUED.

SHOULD SEE SOME BREAK OR DECREASE IN THE ACTION IN THE LATE
AFTERNOON IN THE WAKE OF THE TROUGH...HOWEVER ADDITIONAL
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS LIKELY THIS EVENING AND POSSIBLY
OVERNIGHT IN THE VERY MOIST AIRMASS IN PLACE. TUS 753. OKULSKI

.TWC...FLASH FLOOD WATCH ZONES 29-32>35 UNTIL 2 PM MST.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 22, 5:30 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPinal3 hr
Jul 22, 9:16 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima, Pinal3 hr
Jul 22, 2:43 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCGraham, Greenlee62 min
Jul 22, 3:45 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise, Graham50 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.