Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Phoenix, AZ

July 13, 1999Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 13, 1999, 7:03 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 3 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 13, 1999, 7:03 PM MST (02:03 UTC)
Expired
Jul 13, 1999, 10:00 PM MST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Maricopa County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 198 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 1999-07-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 117 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 00:00Z on 1999-07-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 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
117 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2701 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
148 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 KPHX 140203
FFWPHX
AZC013-140500-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
703 PM MST TUE JUL 13 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTH CENTRAL MARICOPA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

* UNTIL 1000 PM MST

* AT 7 PM MST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN REDEVELOPING FROM THE VICINITY
OF   LAKE PLEASANT NORTHWARD WITH LITTLE MOVEMENT.

* THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN WHICH WILL CAUSE
  FLOODING OF THE AGUA FRIA RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES FLOWING INTO
  LAKE PLEASANT.

DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD!
DO NOT >CAMP NEAR STREAMS.

CRAIG ELLIS

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 Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jul 13, 2:50 PM MST, 4 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 2:50 PM MST, 4 hours 13 minutes before
SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
250 PM MST TUE JUL 13 1999

.SYNOPSIS...
A VERY MOIST AIR MASS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH
WEDNESDAY. AT THE SAME TIME...AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE ALONG THE
LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY WILL SERVE TO LIFT THIS MOISTURE INTO
LOCALIZED HEAVY RAIN PRODUCING THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING. ON
WEDNESDAY...THERE COULD BE ADDITIONAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS AS THE
UPPER DISTURBANCE APPROACHES...WITH SOME VERY STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS
POSSIBLE. MEANWHILE...A STRONG PACIFIC LOW PRESSURE AREA WILL PUSH
THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE CURRENTLY OVER THE AREA TO THE SOUTHEAST.
THIS WILL EVENTUALLY PUT SOUTHWEST ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA
UNDER A DRIER WEST SOUTHWESTERLY WIND FLOW BY THE END OF THE WEEK.
SO...FEWER THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED BY THE WEEKEND.

.DISCUSSION...
THUNDERSTORMS FIRING TODAY OVER CWFA A LITTLE LATER THAN YESTERDAY AS
IT HAS TAKEN AWHILE FOR AIR MASS TO RECOVER FROM OVERNIGHT STORMS.
BUT...CONVECTION IS NOW UNDERWAY MOSTLY OVER HIGHER TERRAIN OF FAR
ERN CWFA RIGHT NOW. SHOULD STILL SEE SOME DRENCHING THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOP OVER THE LOWER SOUTHWEST AZ AND SE CA DESERTS YET THIS
AFTERNOON IN SOUPY...UNSTABLE AIR MASS. VORT TROF ALONG CO RIVER
SHOULD HELP TO ACT AS TRIGGER...SO MAY SEE ACTION GO WAY INTO THE
NIGHT. ON WED...THIS VORT TROF BEGINS TO KICK THROUGH THE STATE IN
RESPONSE TO DIGGING PAC NW TROF...AND LOW/MID LEVEL SHEAR INCREASES.
SO...COULD ACTUALLY SEE SOME SEVERE MULTICELLS DURING MAX HEATING
TIME WED. BY THU...MODELS SUGGEST SOME DRYING/STABLIZING OVER WRN
CWFA...SO WILL TAKE STORMS OUT THIS AREA...LEAVE AT LEAST SLIGHT
CHANCE ERN PORTIONS. MRF FROM LAST NIGHT SUGGESTING THAT SWLY FLOW
WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME QUITE DRY...SO WILL GAMBLE AND TAKE OUT STORMS
FROM ENTIRE CWFA FORECAST ON SATURDAY/SUNDAY. PLEASE CHECK LATEST
FLASH FLOOD STATEMENTS REGARDING CURRENT FLASH FLOOD WATCH...WHICH
HAS BEEN EXPANDED TO COVER ENTIRE CWFA TIL 06Z.  ESTLE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 14, 1:23 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRGila62 min
Jul 14, 3:25 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa60 min
Jul 14, 3:47 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa48 min
Jul 14, 4:07 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa93 min
Jul 14, 4:24 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRPinal46 min
Jul 14, 4:38 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa37 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1999Every flash flood warning in 1999

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.