Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 86, NWS Tucson, AZ

October 26, 1998Cochise County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 26, 1998, 11:35 PM MST for Cochise County, Arizona. It was in force for 45 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
Oct 26, 1998, 11:35 PM MST (06:35 UTC)
Expired
Oct 27, 1998, 12:20 AM MST
In force
45 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 06:38 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, 6.6 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 00:00Z on 1998-10-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-10-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3434 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
256 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 270635 RRA
SVRTUS
AZC003-270720-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1135 PM MST MON OCT 26 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN COCHISE COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA
  ALONG STATE ROUTE 80 SOUTHEAST OF THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS

* UNTIL 1220 AM MST

* AT 1129 PM MST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
  20 MILES NORTHEAST OF DOUGLAS...MOVING NORTH AT 45 MPH. THIS
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS IN A REMOTE AREA OF SOUTHEAST COCHISE
  COUNTY AND WILL AFFECT THE SMALL COMMUNITY OF CHIRICHAHUA THROUGH
  MIDNIGHT.

JRG

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 Oct 26, 9:02 PM MST, 2 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 26, 9:02 PM MST, 2 hours 33 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
902 PM MST MON OCT 26 1998

SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER NORTHWEST ARIZONA
WILL SLOWLY MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL ROCKIES THROUGH TUESDAY. ISOLATED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER FAR EASTERN ARIZONA WILL END BY
TUESDAY MORNING AS DRIER AIR CONTINUES TO FEED IN FROM THE WEST.
A WEAKER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST INTO
ARIZONA BY THE END OF THE WEEK.

DISCUSSION...THE DRY SLOT WHICH APPEARED TO HAVE ENOUGH PUNCH TO
MARCH ALL THE WAY ACROSS MY CWA STOPPED COLD AROUND 00Z AND NOW
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEGUN TO DEVELOP ALONG THE MOISTURE
BOUNDARY. WHAT ISNT HELPING IS THE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FROM
HURRICANE LESTER GETTING SWEPT UP INTO THE FLOW JUST AHEAD OF THE
MID LEVEL COLD FRONT FROM THE MID BAJA INTO EASTERN SONORA PROVINCE.
THE BULK OF THIS MOISTURE SHOULD NOT WORK ANY FURTHER WEST AS WINDS
ON TUCSON WSR-88D ARE WEST-NORTHWEST UP BEYOND 10KFT. THAT PRESENTS
ANOTHER PROBLEM IN THE FORM OF LOW TEMPS. DEWPOINTS ARE IN THE LOWER
30S WITH SURFACE WINDS GOING VERY WEAK. IT APPEARS THE LATEST VORT
MAX TO ROTATE AROUND THE UPPER LOW IS ROTATING MORE NORTH THAN EAST.
THAT MAY KEEP THE HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FEATURE TO
THE NORTHWEST OF TUCSON TONIGHT. NEW ETA 2 METER TEMPS GIVE ME A LOW
OF 47 IN TUCSON...WHICH COULD HAPPEN IF WE STAY CALM ALL NIGHT. IVE
TAKEN TEMPS DOWN SLIGHTLY IN THE 850 PM UPDATE WHICH INCLUDED
THUNDERSTORMS ALONG OUR EASTERN BORDER. TUS 0000. PYTLAK

.TWC...NONE.

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.