Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 52, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 5, 1998Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 5, 1998, 11:56 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 49 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 5, 1998, 11:56 PM MST (06:56 UTC)
Expired
Aug 6, 1998, 12:45 AM MST
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Pinal County, AZ

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:55 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 00:00Z, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 92 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 1998-08-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.1000850700500300200100-30°-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 1998-08-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
7202 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
97 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.

927 
WUUS1 KTUS 060657 RRA
SVRTUS
AZC021-060745-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1156 PM MST WED AUG 5 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EAST CENTRAL PINAL COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

* UNTIL 1245 AM MST

* AT 1154 PM MST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
  5 MILES NORTHEAST OF KELVIN MOVING SOUTH SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  KELVIN                  BY 1203 AM MST
  KEARNY                  BY 1207 AM MST


MEYER

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 5, 9:30 PM MST, 2 hours 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 9:30 PM MST, 2 hours 26 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
930 PM MST WED AUG 5 1998

SYNOPSIS...ABUNDANT MOISTURE HAS MOVED BACK INTO ARIZONA AND
COMBINED WITH DAYTIME HEATING SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP
EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

DISCUSSION...BACK DOOR FRONT/GULF SURGE/COLD H5 HGHTS ALL COMBINING
TO GIVE US A DECENT OUTBREAK THIS EVENING. MOST STORMS HUNG NEAR THE
MOUNTAINS AND THERE WAS A LOT OF TRAINING...WITH 5-9 INCHES OF RAIN
INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR AT SOME SPOTS. THATS DONE SO WHAT ABOUT
TOMORROW. ONE THING THAT CHANGES IS LOW LVL FLOW WILL REMAIN ERLY
THRU THE DAY. THAT WONT ALLOW THE HIGHER DEWPOINT AIR THAT THE GULF
SURGE BROUGHT INTO THE LOW DESERT TO HELP GET THE STORMS OFF THE
MOUNTAINS. SO I WONDER IF WE WILL SEE MUCH CHANGE FROM WHAT WE HAD
TODAY. OF COURSE THE NE H5 FLOW IS FAVORABLE FOR PRECIP IN SE AZ.

OF CURIOUS NOTE IS THE MODELS INSISTENCE ON PUTTING A STRONG
CYCLONIC CIRCULATION OFF THE WEST COAST OF BAJA BY 48 HRS. IS THIS
JUST A POOR INITILIZATION OF THE SYSTEM THAT APPEARS TO BE 110W AND
15N. THE MODELS HAVE BEEN DOING THIS ALL SUMMER...MAYBE ONE OF THESE
DAYS SOMETHING WILL REALLY BE THERE BUT FOR NOW I KIND OF IGNORE IvT.

WILL DO A ZONE UPDATE SOON TO REFLECT CURRENT TRENDS.

TUS 2343. HOLBROOK

.TWC...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 5, 10:49 PM MST, 1 hour 7 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
1049 PM MST WED AUG 05 1998

TIME(MST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0545 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   .75 INCH HAIL
08/05/98   PIMA                           NORTHEAST TUCSON

0550 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   .75 INCH HAIL
08/05/98   PIMA                           SANTA CATALINA FOOTHILLS
                                          WIND GUST OVER 50 MPH

0553 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   .75 INCH HAIL
08/05/98   PIMA                           WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH
                                          4 TO 5 POUND TILES BLOWN
                                          OFF ROOFS

0555 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   1.5 INCH HAIL
08/05/98   PIMA                           1/4 MILE NORTH OF SWAN AND
                                          SUNRISE

0558 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   1 INCH HAIL
08/05/98   PIMA                           ACE HARDWARE ON SWAN

0708 PM    VAIL                      AZ   70 MPH TSTM GUST
08/05/98   PIMA                           15 N OF SONOITA ON HIGHWAY
                                          83 IN SOUTHEAST PIMA
                                          COUNTY
Local storm report, Aug 5, 10:49 PM MST, 1 hour 7 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
1049 PM MST WED AUG 05 1998

TIME(MST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0545 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   .75 INCH HAIL
08/05/98   PIMA                           NORTHEAST TUCSON

0550 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   .75 INCH HAIL
08/05/98   PIMA                           SANTA CATALINA FOOTHILLS
                                          WIND GUST OVER 50 MPH

0553 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   .75 INCH HAIL
08/05/98   PIMA                           WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH
                                          4 TO 5 POUND TILES BLOWN
                                          OFF ROOFS

0555 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   1.5 INCH HAIL
08/05/98   PIMA                           1/4 MILE NORTH OF SWAN AND
                                          SUNRISE

0558 PM    TUCSON                    AZ   1 INCH HAIL
08/05/98   PIMA                           ACE HARDWARE ON SWAN

0708 PM    VAIL                      AZ   70 MPH TSTM GUST
08/05/98   PIMA                           15 N OF SONOITA ON HIGHWAY
                                          83 IN SOUTHEAST PIMA
                                          COUNTY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 5, 5:24 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima2 hr
Aug 5, 5:43 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima62 min
Aug 5, 6:38 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima52 min
Aug 5, 6:38 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima52 min
Aug 5, 7:20 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima, Santa Cruz75 min
Aug 5, 8:54 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima96 min
Aug 6, 2:44 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1998Every severe thunderstorm 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.