Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 8, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 5, 1998Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 5, 1998, 7:57 AM MST for Pima 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 5, 1998, 7:57 AM MST (14:57 UTC)
Expired
Jul 5, 1998, 10:00 AM MST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pima County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:00 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, 3.0 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 12:00Z on 1998-07-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 250 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 12:00Z on 1998-07-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -17 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
250 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-99 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1046 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-16 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 051458
FFWTUS
AZC019-051700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
757 AM MST SUN JUL 5 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR NORTHEASTERN PIMA COUNTY IN SOUTHERN
ARIZONA INCLUDING THE TUCSON METRO AREA...

* UNTIL 1000 AM MST

* AT 755... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN SOUTHWEST TUCSON... MOVING NORTH
  AT 10 MPH. SPOTTERS HAVE REPORTED NEARLY AN INCH OF RAIN HAS
  FALLEN ALONG VALENCIA DRIVE WEST OF I-19 IN THE LAST HOUR.

  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE REMAINING PORTION OF
  THE TUCSON METRO AREA THROUGH THE MORNING. PERSONS IN THE METRO
  AREA SHOULD BE ALERT TO FLASH FLOODING OF WASHES AND LOW AREAS. DO
  NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS.


  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 5, 2:30 AM MST, 5 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 5, 2:30 AM MST, 5 hours 27 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 AM MST SUN JUL 5 1998

SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT OVER NEW MEXICO WILL CONTINUE TO
ALLOW MONSOONAL MOISTURE TO SPREAD ACROSS SOUTHERN ARIZONA THIS
WEEK. MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED EACH DAY.

DISCUSSION...THE MONSOON DID NOT TAKE ITS TIME MAKING AN ENTRANCE
INTO SOUTHEAST ARIZONA THIS YEAR. WE ALREADY HAVE MET THE DAILY
AVERAGE DEW POINT CRITERIA IN TUCSON AND OTHER KEY STATIONS THE PAST
TWO DAYS. SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM NAILING THE THIRD DAY TODAY AND
MAKE IT OFFICIAL. SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE THIS
MORNING. THIS ACTIVITY WILL GRADUALLY END TOWARD SUNRISE...BUT WILL
REDEVELOP IN THE AFTERNOON. AREAS WITH THE LEAST OF AMOUNT OF DEBRIS
CLOUDS WILL BE THE FIRST TO FIRE UP THE BOOMERS AS USUAL. MORE
MOISTURE IS ON THE WAY WITH OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM THUNDERSTORMS
OVER THE SIERRA MADRE MOVING INTO THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA WHICH WILL
TRIGGER ANOTHER GULF SURGE.

THE AMOUNT OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST IS VERY
IMPRESSIVE FOR ONLY THE THIRD DAY OF THE MONSOON. THE 5 PM TUCSON
SOUNDING HAD 1.53 INCHES OF PRECIPITABLE WATER AND A DEW POINT
TEMPERATURE OF 14 DEGREES CELCIUS AT 850 MB. THE MONSOON MOISTURE
BOUNDARY HAS MOVED ACROSS ALMOST ALL OF THE COUNTY WARNING AREA PER
UPPER AIR PLOTS FROM LAST EVENING. THE ETA REMAINS SHOCKINGLY
CLUELESS WITH REGARDS TO THE MOISTURE FIELD THROUGH THE NEXT TWO
DAYS...WAY TOO DRY. THE AVN AND NGM HAVE A BETTER GRASP OF THE
MOISTURE SITUATION AND ARE PREFERRED. AGREE WITH THE EVENING
FORECASTER THAT BROAD BRUSH SCATTERED POPS ARE THE WAY TO GO THROUGH
MONDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND FLASH FLOODING ARE ALSO CONCERNS
GIVEN THE HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ACROSS EASTERN ARIZONA AND
LOCATION OF THE 850 AND 700 MB THETA E RIDGES.

HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT MOVES CLOSER TO THE FOUR CORNERS REGION BY THE
MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. GOOD EASTERLY FLOW ALOFT IS EXPECTED TO KEEP
MONSOONAL MOISTURE ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST PORTION OF THE STATE.
TUS 333. OKULSKI

.TWC...NONE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 6:02 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima48 min
Jul 4, 6:31 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima119 min
Jul 5, 7:46 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise119 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.