Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999

Flash Flood Warning 14, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 15, 1999Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 15, 1999, 6:49 AM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 86 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
Jul 15, 1999, 6:49 AM MST (13:49 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1999, 8:15 AM MST
In force
86 min
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 13:52 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, 1.8 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 1999-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 758 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 12:00Z on 1999-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 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
758 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
923 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
76 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 151343
FFWTUS
AZC019-151515-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
649 AM MST THU JUL 15 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN PIMA COUNTY IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA
  INCLUDING SABINO CANYON ON THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF TUCSON

* UNTIL 815 AM MST

* AT 640 AM...A VERY SMALL BUT INTENSE AREA OF RAIN HAS CONCENTRATED
  IN THE SABINO CANYON HEADWATERS. THE STORMS WERE HUGGING THE
  CATALINA MOUNTAINS AND WERE DRIFITNG SLOWLY EAST. DOPPLER RADAR
  AND RAIN GAGES INDICATE THAT 4 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN
  SINCE 100 AM. THE RAIN GAGE AT WHITE TAIL HAS CONFIRMED THIS
  ESTIMATE WITH 4.49 INCHES SINCE 100 AM...MUCH OF IT FALLING SINCE
  400 AM.

* THE ISOLATED FLASH FLOOD WILL ONLY AFFECT THE SABINO CANYON AREA.
  PEOPLE IN SABINO CANYON PARK SHOULD MOVE AWAY FROM ANY CREEKS
  IMMEDIATELY.

PYTLAK

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 15, 2:18 AM MST, 4 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 15, 2:18 AM MST, 4 hours 31 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
218 AM MST THU JUL 15 1999

SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE DEVELOPING SOUTH OF ARIZONA WILL SLOWLY
FEED DRIER AIR INTO THE REGION. HOWEVER...ANOTHER ROUND OF SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WITH
PLENTY OF MOISTURE STILL AROUND...A FEW STORMS COULD ONCE AGAIN
PRODUCE HEAVY DOWNPOURS. THE HIGH PRESSURE AREA WILL GRADUALLY
MIGRATE INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS OVER THE WEEKEND. WHILE THIS STILL
FAVORS MONSOON THUNDERSTORMS...THE ACTIVITY WILL NOT BE AS
WIDESPREAD AS IT HAS BEEN RECENTLY.

DISCUSSION...WESTERLY FLOW HAS COMMENCED, BUT WERE NOT OUT OF THE
WOODS YET (OR TROPICAL RAIN FOREST AS THE CASE MAY BE). A SLEEPER
SHORT WAVE IN THE KLAS AREA, WHICH IS FUELING A SMALL, SLOW-MOVING
MCS NEAK KIGM, WAS ONLY PICKED UP WELL BY THE ETA AND RUC. THEY TAKE
IT ACROSS NORTHERN AZ TODAY WITH A TRAILING, WEAK LOBE THROUGH SE AZ
JUST AFTER 00Z. BASED ON CURRENT MOVEMENT, THAT MAY NOT BE TOO BAD.
FLOW AND SHEAR PROFILES ARENT AS STRONG AS YESTERDAY, SO THE DEGREE
OF RELOADING IS IN DOUBT. HOWEVER, DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE REMAINS
(PRECIP WATERS IN THE 1.5-1.75 RANGE) WITH SOME MID LEVEL COOLING
EXPECTED. THERE WILL ALSO BE SOME UPPER DIVERGENCE BETWEEN THE VORT
AND THE 300MB HIGH TO OUR SOUTH. THIS MAY EXPLAIN THE ONGOING
CONVECTION ALONG OUR SOUTHERN BORDER AND ISOLATED ELEVATED SHOWERS
AS FAR NORTH AS PINAL COUNTY. THE SLOW DRYING MAY BE JUST ENOUGH TO
KEEP OUR FLASH FLOOD THREAT DOWN, BUT DAY SHIFT WILL HAVE TO WATCH
AND MAY NEED TO BEEF UP WORDING ONCE WE GET THE 12Z UPPER AIR DATA.
THE TORRENTIAL RAIN OVER THE NORTH AND EAST CWA LAST NIGHT HAS
REALLY SATURATED THINGS WITH MANY WASHES STILL RUNNING THIS MORNING.

TO SUM UP, PREVIOUS FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE OTHER THAN A DOWNWARD
TWEAK ON HIGHS TODAY AND SLIGHT POP INCREASES FROM TUCSON EAST THIS
AFTERNOON/EVENING. TOMORROW DEFINITELY LOOKS LIKE A DOWNER WITH
LOWER THETA-E AND SOME WARMING ALOFT. WEAK FLOW SHOULD KEEP MUCH OF
THE ACTIVITY NEAR THE MOUNTAINS WITH A SLIGHT WARMUP DUE TO LESS
CLOUD COVER. NO MRF AVAILABLE AS YET, BUT OTHER MEDIUM RANGE MODELS
MAINTAIN A TROUGH JUST OFF THE WEST COAST. THAT SUPPORTS OUR CURRENT
EXTENDED WITH ONLY THE WESTERN DESERTS CUTOFF FROM THE MONSOON FLOW.
PYTLAK

.TWC...NONE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 14, 6:53 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima92 min
Jul 15, 8:14 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima61 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.