Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Tucson, AZ

February 18, 1998Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Feb 18, 1998, 8:30 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 11 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
Feb 18, 1998, 8:30 PM MST (03:30 UTC)
Expired
Feb 19, 1998, 7:00 AM MST
In force
11 hr
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 3.5 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 1998-02-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 36 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1998-02-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
36 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
898 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
140 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 190328
FFWTUS
AZC019-191400-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
830 PM MST WED FEB 18 1998

...SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING FOR EASTERN PIMA COUNTY...INCLUDING
THE GREATER TUCSON AREA EXTENDED UNTIL 7 AM THURSDAY MORNING...

WATER LEVELS IN MOST OF THE WASHES IN EASTERN PIMA COUNTY PEAKED
EARLIER TODAY BUT ARE STILL A THREAT TO MOTORISTS AND SHOULD BE
AVOIDED UNTIL THURSDAY MORNING. 

SOME STREAM GAGE READINGS AS OF 8 PM:
TANQUE VERDE WASH AT T.V. GUEST RANCH...... 1.8 FT
TANQUE VERDE WASH AT SABINO BRIDGE......... 1.3 FT
PANTANO WASH AT VAIL....................... 1.0 FT
SABINO CREEK............................... 1.6 FT
SANTA CRUZ RIVER AT CORTARO................ 2.3 FT

DO NOT DRIVE AROUND BARRIERS TO GET THROUGH THESE WASHES. DO NOT
DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD!

HOLBROOK

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 Feb 18, 2:30 PM MST, 6 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 18, 2:30 PM MST, 6 hours before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST WED FEB 18 1998

SYNOPSIS...THE WINTER STORM THAT BROUGHT SIGNIFICANT VALLEY RAINS
AND MOUNTAIN SNOWS HAS PUSHED TO THE EAST. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD
ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT AND THURSDAY AHEAD OF THE NEXT WEATHER
SYSTEM. THE NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF VALLEY
RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW FRIDAY INTO EARLY SATURDAY.

DISCUSSION...WRAP AROUND CLOUDINESS CONTINUING THIS AFTERNOON AS
WINTER STORM HAS PUSHED EAST OF STATE. HEAVY FLOW CONTINUING IN
WASHES IN THE TUCSON METRO AREA INTO THIS EVENING...THUS WILL KEEP
SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING GOING TIL 8 PM.

HIGH PRESSURE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT WITH
CLOUDS ON THE DECREASE. STILL MAY SEE ISOLATED VALLEY RAIN AND
MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS EARLY THIS EVENING BEFORE CLOUDS CLEAR. LOTS
OF LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE AROUND THAT UNDER CLEARING SKIES...PATCHY FOG
DEVELOPMENT IS POSSIBLE. THURSDAY WILL BE A DRY WITH THE DAY
STARTING OUT MOSTLY SUNNY WITH PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES DEVELOPING IN THE
AFTERNOON.

NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM LOOKS FAIRLY SIMILIAR TO THE ONE THAT JUST PAST
WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF SIGNIFICANT VALLEY RAINS AND HEAVY MOUNTAIN
SNOWS FOR FRIDAY AFTERNOON INTO SATURDAY. I LIKE THE ETA/AVN/NOGAPS
MODEL SLOWER SOLUTION WITH THE NGM MODEL A LITTLE TO FAST.
AVN/NOGAPS CLOSE OFF UPPER LOW SOMEWHERE IN CENTRAL ARIZONA FRIDAY
AFTERNOON AND MOVE IT THROUGH SOUTHEAST ARIZONA SATURDAY MORNING.
FORECAST AREA WILL SEE AN INCREASE IN CLOUDS THURSDAY NIGHT WITH
RAIN STARTING OUT IN THE MORNING HOURS WESTERN ZONES AND SPREADING
EAST AS THE DAY PROGRESSES. WILL GO LIKELY POPS FROM TUCSON WEST
FRIDAY AND SCATTERED POPS EAST OF TUCSON. AVN/NOGAPS QPF FORECAST
SHOWING BETWEEN 0.50-1.25 OF RAIN WITH OVER A FOOT OF NEW SNOW
ABOVE 6000 FEET. WITH THE GROUND ALREADY SATURATED...ESPECIALLY FROM
TUCSON WEST...FLASH FLOODING IS A THREAT WITH THIS SYSTEM. LOOKS
LIKE ANOTHER WINTER STORM WATCH WILL BE HOISTED ON THURSDAY.
MID-SHIFT WILL HAVE ANOTHER RUN TO LOOK AT AND DECIDE ABOVE LINE OF
THINKING.

TUS 0007. GLUECK

TUS...SMALL STREAM FLOOD WARNING FOR EASTERN PIMA COUNTY TIL 03Z.

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.