Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 68, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 13, 1998Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 13, 1998, 9:01 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 49 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Aug 13, 1998, 9:01 PM MST (04:01 UTC)
Expired
Aug 13, 1998, 9:50 PM 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 04:02 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 13, 9:51 PM MSTThunderstorm Wind 52Maricopa, AZNear zero visibility with dense blowing dust.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 4.0 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 1998-08-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 546 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1998-08-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 75 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
546 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2417 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 13, 2:30 PM MST, 6 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 13, 2:30 PM MST, 6 hours 31 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST THU AUG 13 1998

SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT OVER THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN WILL
DRIFT SLOWLY EAST DURING THE REMAINDER OF THIS WEEK. AN EAST TO
NORTHEAST WIND FLOW AROUND THIS HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL ALLOW
MONSOONAL MOISTURE AND THUNDERSTORMS TO PERSIST OVER SOUTHEAST
ARIZONA INTO THE UPCOMING WEEKEND.

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY BEGAN RATHER EARLY TODAY...BEFORE
NOON. EXPECTED TO SEE MORE ACTIVITY OVER THE FAR EASTERN RIM AREA
THAN SHOWING UP ON SATELLITE AT THIS TIME.  WITH INVERTED V SOUNDING
SEVERE WIND GUSTS POSSIBLE TONIGHT. SEE NO MECHANISM THROUGH 48
HOURS TO DECREASE MOISTURE ALREADY PRESENT. UPPER LEVEL HIGH
PRESSURE REMAINS CENTERED NORTH OF TUCSON FOR EAST TO NORTHEAST
STEERING FLOW. THIS IS FAVORABLE FOR STORMS MOVING OFF THE RIM
COUNTRY AND INTO THE VALLEYS.

TUS 534.

.TWC...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 3 PM TO 9 PM.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 13, 6:14 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima36 min
Aug 14, 12:15 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima2 hr
Aug 14, 4:00 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima, Pinal45 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.