Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999

Flash Flood Warning 34, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 9, 1999Cochise County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 9, 1999, 9:55 PM MST for Cochise County, Arizona. It was in force for 2 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
Aug 9, 1999, 9:55 PM MST (04:55 UTC)
Expired
Aug 10, 1999, 12:00 AM MST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Cochise County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 4.9 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 1999-08-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 155 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 1999-08-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -14 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
155 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2997 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-19 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 100453
FFWTUS
AZC003-100700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
955 PM MST MON AUG 9 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL COCHISE COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA
  INCLUDING ELFRIDA

* UNTIL MIDNIGHT MST

* UP TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN THIS EVENING IN THE CHIRACAHUA
  MOUNTAINS...IN ADDITION TO THE 5 INCHES NEAR THE SAME AREA
  YESTERDAY...WAS THREATENING THE TOWN OF ELFRIDA NEAR WHITEWATER
  DRAW. OFFICIALS IN ELFRIDA ARE SANDBAGGING IN CASE FLOOD WATERS
  COMING DOWN RUCKER CANYON MAKE IT INTO THE DRAW.

ALTHOUGH LITTLE ADDITIONAL RAIN IS EXPECTED...THE RUNOFF FROM THE
HEAVY RAINS EARLIER IS A SERIOUS THREAT. HEED THE ADVICE OF LOCAL
OFFICIALS. DO NOT DRIVE AROUND BARRICADES.

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 Aug 9, 9:20 PM MST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 9, 9:20 PM MST, 35 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
920 PM MST MON AUG 9 1999

SYNOPSIS...MONSOON MOISTURE HAS SPREAD BACK INTO ACROSS SOUTHEAST
ARIZONA AND COMBINED WITH AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG UPPER LOW SYSTEM
NEAR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST THERE WILL BE AN UPSWING IN
PRECIPITATION TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. BY THURSDAY A DRYER
SOUTHWEST WIND FLOW WILL DEVELOP AS THE UPPER LOW MOVES NORTHEAST
INTO WYOMING WITH A DECREASE IN THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.

DISCUSSION...ACTION PICKED UP BETWEEN 6 PM AND 8 PM WITH FLASH
FLOODING OCCURING TO AREAS SOUTHEAST OF TUCSON IN COCHISE COUNTY.
HAVE BEEN WATCHING BIG MCS PAST 6 HOURS MOVE EVER SO CLOSER TO SE
AZ. LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS THAT CLOUD TOPS ARE WARMING. DEEP
SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT BETWEEN UPPER HIGH IN CENTRAL TEXAS AND UPPER
LOW OFF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST WILL ALLOW REMAINS OF MCS TO
CONTINUE NORTHWARD TREK OVERNIGHT. WILL SEE LOCAL DOWNPOURS NEXT
SEVERAL HOURS BUT GENERAL TREND IS FOR A DECREASE IN AREAL COVERAGE
BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND 6 AM.

MONSOONAL MOISTURE HAS DEEPENED ACROSS THE AREA WITH TUCSON 700 MB
DEWPOINT UP TO 6C (WAS -1C AT 12Z). 18Z MESO-ETA ALSO PICKED UP WEAK
VORT MAX SOUTH OF CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY WHICH IS CAUSE FOR BOOMER
SOUTH OF THAT AREA THIS EVENING. MESO-ETA TAKES THIS FEATURE AND
MOVES IT NORTH ACROSS SE AZ TONIGHT BETWEEN 03Z-12Z (8PM-5AM). SO ON
UPDATE WILL SHOW A DECREASE IN ACTIVITY BUT KEEP ISOLATED ACTION GOING
OVERNIGHT.

OH BY THE WAY THE STREAK CONTINUES HERE IN TUCSON AS WE ARE AT DAY
34 FOR CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES BELOW 100 DEGREES
DURING THE SUMMER. FOURTH LONGEST SUMMER STREAK ON RECORD. GLUECK

.TWC...NONE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 9, 6:20 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise2 hr
Aug 10, 12:00 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise9 hr

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.