Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 51, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 24, 1998Cochise County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 24, 1998, 1:47 PM MST for Cochise County, Arizona. It was in force for 118 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 24, 1998, 1:47 PM MST (20:47 UTC)
Expired
Aug 24, 1998, 3:45 PM MST
In force
118 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Cochise County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:50 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, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 113 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 1998-08-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1104 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 1998-08-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -47 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
1104 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-135 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1582 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-47 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 242048
FFWTUS
AZC003-242245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
147 PM MST MON AUG 24 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  COCHISE COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA

* UNTIL 345 PM MST

* AT 145 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AND
SPOTTERS INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN ACROSS MUCH OF
COCHISE COUNTY. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE OVER THE DOS
CABEZAS MOUNTAINS...THE DRAGOON MOUNTAINS BETWEEN TOMBSTONE AND
PEARCE AND ELFRIDA...AND ALSO NEAR SIERRA VISTA AND BISBEE. RADAR
INDICATED RAINFALL IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES PER HOUR.

THIS UPGRADES THE SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVIOSRY PREVIOUS ISSUED FOR
SOUTHWEEST COCHISE COUNTY.

  T

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 Aug 24, 9:30 AM MST, 4 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 24, 9:30 AM MST, 4 hours 17 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
930 AM MST MON AUG 24 1998

SYNOPSIS...MOISTURE HAS RETURNED TO SOUTHEAST ARIZONA AND AN UPSWING
IN THE THUNDERSTORM ACTVITY WILL BEGIN TODAY THROUGH MIDWEEK.

DISCUSSION...COMPLICATED SCENARIO TODAY. LOTS OF MOISTURE HAS MOVED
BACK INTO SOUTHEAST ARIZONA...WITH SURFACE DEW POINTS IN THE UPPER
50S TO UPPER 60S. UPPER LOW OVER BAJA AREA HELPING TO TRIGGER
MORNING THUNDERSTORMS IN WESTERN PIMA COUNTY. AND RADAR HAS ALREADY
SHOWN 3-4 INCHES OUT THERE THIS MORNING. 12Z TUCSON SOUNDING LOADED
WITH CAPE...2000 USING THE MEAN LAYER. THIS COULD SUPPORT VERY
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL...IN
ADDITION TO HEAVY RAIN. WONDERING ABOUT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH.
ON THE OTHER HAND...STRATIFORM CLOUD DECK INCREASING EASTERN PIMA
AND COCHISE COUNTY. TOO MUCH CLOUDS WILL REDUCE HEATING. CONVECTIVE
TEMPERATURE IS IN THE MID 90S.

TUS 553.

.TWC..n.NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 24, 12:43 PM MST, 1 hour 4 minutes before
AZZ019-029>035-250700-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SOUTHEAST ARIZONA CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1245 PM MST MON AUG 23 1998...THIS PRODUCT IS NOT UPDATED

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

COCHISE          40          30          60         40     NW 10
GRAHAM           30          10          20         10     NW 10
GREENLEE         30          10          20         10     NW 10
TUCSON/ERN PIMA  40          30          40         20     NW 10
TOHONO OODHAM   40          30          50         20     NW 10
WESTERN PIMA     50          30          50         20     NW 10
SOUTHEAST PINAL  40          30          40         20     NW 10
SANTA CRUZ       50          30          50         30     NW 10

SYNOPSIS...LARGE INCREASE IN LOW LEVEL MOISTURE TODAY. AN UPPER
LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IN MEXICO IS MOVING NORTHWARD TOWARDS
SOUTHWESTERN ARIZONA. SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA WILL NEED AFTERNOON
HEATING TO TRIGGER THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. BOTH FLASH FLOODING AND
DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE 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/WJM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 24, 8:16 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima59 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.