Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999

Flash Flood Warning 17, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 17, 1999Pima County, Santa Cruz County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 17, 1999, 12:44 PM MST for Pima County, Santa Cruz County, Arizona. It was in force for 61 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 17, 1999, 12:44 PM MST (19:44 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 1999, 1:45 PM MST
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

Counties Pima County, AZ, Santa Cruz County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 56 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 1999-07-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 10 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 1999-07-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 99 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
10 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-153 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1940 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 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 171943
FFWTUS
AZC019-023-172045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1244 PM MST SAT JUL 17 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN PIMA COUNTY IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA
  NORTHWESTERN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA
  INCLUDING ARIVACA ROAD BETWEEN ARIVACA AND ARIVACA JUNCTION

* UNTIL 145 PM MST

* AT 1236 PM MST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN 10 MILES WEST OF AMADO...
  MOVING SLOWLY WEST.

DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES THAT 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN
FROM THESE STORMS WITHIN THE PAST HOUR. HEAVY RAINFALL FROM THESE
STORMS WILL QUICKLY FILL WASHES... LOW LYING AREAS AND DIPS ACROSS
ROADWAYS.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED
QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

RASMUSSEN

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 17, 9:35 AM MST, 3 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 17, 9:35 AM MST, 3 hours 9 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
935 AM MST SAT JUL 17 1999

SYNOPSIS...SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR HAS SETTLED INTO THE AREA...ESPECIALLY
WEST OF TUCSON. THIS WILL LEAD TO A DECREASE IN THUNDERSTORM
COVERAGE THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE HIGHEST THREAT WILL BE SOUTH
AND EAST OF TUCSON WHERE LINGERING MOISTURE WILL STILL BE RATHER
HIGH...BUT MANY OF THOSE STORMS WILL REMAIN CONFINED TO HIGHER
TERRAIN.

DISCUSSION...SATELLITE AND RADAR INDICATED CLOUDY SKIES WITH A FEW
LINGERING SHOWERS ACROSS PORTIONS OF COCHISE AND GRAHAM COUNTIES
THIS MORNING. OTHERWISE...PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES WERE NOTED ACROSS THE
WESTERN ZONES. MAIN WEATHER FEATURE TO WATCH FOR TODAY INTO SUNDAY
WILL BE AN EASTERLY WAVE LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF THE TEXAS BIG BEND
AREA THIS MORNING. LATEST ETA MODEL LIFTS THIS WAVE NORTHWARD DURING
THE NEXT 24 HOURS WITH THE BEST AREA OF UPWARD VERTICAL MOTION
PROGGED TO EXTEND OVER NEW MEXICO INTO FAR SOUTHEAST ARIZONA.
BASED ON THIS...WOULD EXPECT MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY
ACROSS OUR EASTERN ZONES LATER TODAY INTO SUNDAY. HOWEVER...WILL
NEED TO WATCH OUT FOR STORMS THIS AFTERNOON DEVELOPING ALONG THE
WESTERN EDGE OF THE EXTENSIVE CLOUD BAND THAT COVERS MOST OF EASTERN
ARIZONA TODAY. THIS AREA OF DIFFERENTIAL SURFACE HEATING WILL
EXTEND ACROSS SOUTHEAST PINAL SOUTH INTO CENTRAL PIMA AND WESTERN
SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES. FOR NOW...WILL UPDATE FORECAST TO REFLEX MORE
CLOUDINESS ACROSS EASTERN ZONES AND KEEP THE THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE
ABOUT THE SAME. ALTHOUGH...THE EASTERN ZONES WILL LIKELY NOT SEE A
LOT OF THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE THIS AFTERNOON DUE TO THE EXTENSIVE
CLOUD COVER AND THE PERSIST LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CONVERGENCE COUPLED
WILL THE LARGER SCALE LIFT. WILL LIKELY NEED THUNDERSTORMS TO
DEVELOP OVER SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO AND PROPAGATE WESTWARD THIS
AFTERNOON WHICH WOULD CALL FOR AN INCREASE IN STORMS LATER THIS
EVENING AND TONIGHT ACROSS COCHISE...GRAHAM AND GREENLEE COUNTIES.
JD

.TWC...NONE.

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.