Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 19, NWS Tucson, AZ

July 22, 2000Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 22, 2000, 9:00 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 45 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jul 22, 2000, 9:00 PM MST (04:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 2000, 9:45 PM MST
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Pima County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 25 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:01 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 22, 9:00 PM MSTThunderstorm Wind 55 ETucson, AZ6 power poles snapped in remote area on east side of Tucson. Power out in some areas for 36 hours.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 15 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 2000-07-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 361 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 2000-07-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 20 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
361 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-97 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3239 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 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 
WUUS55 KTWC 230401
SVRTUS
AZC019-230445-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
900 PM MST SAT JUL 22 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN PIMA COUNTY IN ARIZONA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...GREEN VALLEY...TUCSON

* UNTIL 945 PM MST

* AT 900 PM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERAL SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED ACROSS EASTERN TUCSON MOVING 
  WEST AT 20 MPH AS WELL AS EAST OF GREEN VALLEY MOVING NORTHWEST AT 
  20 MPH.

INTENSE RAINFALL AND STRONG DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS
STORM. TAKE COVER IN A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER UNTIL THE STORM PASSES.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN TUCSON.

LAT...LON 3173 11093 3224 11045 3251 11048 3217 11115
          3179 |11115

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 Jul 22, 2:40 PM MST, 6 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 2:40 PM MST, 6 hours 20 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
235 PM SAT JUL 22 2000

SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN OVER ARIZONA THROUGH EARLY NEXT
WEEK.  THIS WILL BRING A MOIST MONSOON PATTERN TO THE STATE...WITH A
CHANCE OF MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY OF THE
FORECAST PERIOD.

DISCUSSION...DEW POINTS HOLDING IN THE MIDDLE 50S THIS AFTERNOON...
CONSISTENT WITH THE DEEPER LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CENTERED TO THE WEST
OF TUCSON THROUGH CENTRAL PIMA INTO WESTERN PINAL COUNTY.  LATEST
SATELLITE PICTURES SHOW ANOTHER ROUND OF CONVECTION DEVELOPING ALONG
THE RIM...AND MUCH MORE ORGANIZED EASTERLY FLOW SHOULD HELP TO BRING
THESE STORMS OFF THE RIM INTO LOWER DESERTS.  VISIBLE SATELLITE
PICTURES SHOW CUMULUS FIELD OVER EASTERN PIMA AND SANTA CRUZ
COUNTY...INDICATING THE PRESENCE OF THE DEEPER MOISTURE NOW OVER THE
CENTRAL PART OF FORECAST AREA.  EXPECT STORMS TO DEVELOP THIS
EVENING IN EASTERN PIMA COUNTY AND SANTA CRUZ COUNTY AS OUTFLOWS
FROM THE RIM AND STORMS DEVELOPING OVER HIGHER TERRAIN OF COCHISE
COUNTY MOVE INTO THE AREA.  THE POSSIBILITY OF STRONG DOWNBURST WINDS
EXISTS WITH ALL STORMS THIS EVENING DUE TO STEEP MID AND LOWER
TROPOSPHERIC LAPSE RATES.

WILL KEEP SCATTERED CONVECTION GOING IN ZONES SUNDAY AS MODELS
INDICATE MOIST FLOW TO CONTINUE.  DETAILS WILL OF COURSE DEPEND ON
THE LOCATION AND STRENGTH OF TODAYS CONVECTION...BUT APPEARS LIKE
MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY TO INCREASE OVER NEXT 24 HOURS.  AVN/MRF
STILL MAINTAINING THEIR DRY BIAS SO EXTENDED GUIDANCE BECOMES
SOMEWHAT UNRELIABLE.  TROPICAL DEPRESSION FIVE-E SOUTHWEST OF BAJA
WAS NOT WELL INITIALIZED BY THE MODELS...SO AFFECT OF THIS
CIRCULATION ON THE LARGE SCALE MOISTURE FIELDS REMAINS A WILD CARD.
MRF ENSEMBLES IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH HIGH CENTER ALOFT
REMAINING OVER ARIZONA...BUT DROPPING A LITTLE BIT TO THE SOUTH.
HOWEVER DRY BIAS OF AVN/MRF KEEPS ENSEMBLE PROBABILISTIC QPF ZERO
THROUGH NEXT WEEK IN SONORA MX...WHICH MAKES NO SENSE.  WILL
THEREFORE KEEP CHANCE OF STORMS GOING IN THE EXTENDED BASED ON THE
LARGE SCALE SYNOPTIC PATTERN AND DISREGARD MRF DRYING FOR NOW. DRB

.TWC...NONE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 22, 9:45 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima45 min
Jul 22, 10:07 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 2000Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2000

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.