Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 4, 2001, 7:14 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 46 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
- Aug 4, 2001, 7:14 PM MST (02:14 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 4, 2001, 8:00 PM MST
- In force
- 46 min
- Issued by
- NWS Phoenix, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County Pinal County, AZ
The radar
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:17 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 7:45 PM MST | Thunderstorm Wind 60 E | Superior, AZ | Severe thunderstorm wind gusts blew down trees in town. |
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, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 132 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 875 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -84 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2553 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -8 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 36 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS55 KPSR 050216 SVRPHX AZC021-050300- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 714 PM MST SAT AUG 4 2001 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... NORTH CENTRAL PINAL COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA... INCLUDING THE TOWNS OF SUPERIOR...FLORENCE JUNCTION... AND QUEEN VALLEY. * UNTIL 800 PM MST * AT 715 PM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES SOUTH OF SUPERIOR...MOVING NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH. DAMAGING MICROBURST WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. VERY HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE. 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 PHOENIX. LAT...LON 3343 11145 3310 11137 3315 11091 3347 11111
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 Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 4, 3:00 PM MST, 4 hours 14 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 3:00 PM MST, 4 hours 14 minutes before
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-050545- SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 300 PM MST SAT AUG 4 2001 .SYNOPSIS... STRONG HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE CENTRAL UNITED STATES WILL MOVE WEST AND BE CENTERED OVER WYOMING EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE FLOW AROUND THIS SYSTEM...COUPLED WITH ABUNDANT MOISTURE...WILL RESULT IN AFTERNOON AND NIGHTTIME THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA AND PART OF SOUTHWEST ARIZONA THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF STORMS IN SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT...BEFORE SOME DRIER AIR BEGINS TO PUSH IN FROM THE WEST ONCE AGAIN. .DISCUSSION... RAISED POPS IN PART OF S-CNTRL AZ FOR TONIGHT IN DEFERENCE TO THE INCREASED POTENTIAL FOR STORMS. THE MOISTURE GRADIENT IS QUITE TIGHT ACROSS S-CNTRL AZ. DRIER AIR HAS INTRUDED FROM THE W AND IS BUTTING UP AGAINST THE MOIST AIR IN PLACE OVER CNTRL AND ERN AZ...NOT TOO FAR W OF THE PHX METRO AREA. DEWPOINT AT GILA BEND WAS 41 DEG AT 21Z ...WITH LOW TO MID 60S JUST E OF THERE. MOISTURE EXPECTED TO SLOWLY PUSH BACK WWD TONIGHT AS FLOW IS CHANGING FROM SLY TO MORE ELY OVER SRN AZ. WE WILL HAVE TO WATCH STORMS FROM THE S AND SE...AS WELL AS ANY BACK-BUILDING STORMS ALONG THE NRN BORDER OF THE CWA. THE SEVERE POTENTIAL IS HIGHER TODAY THAN RECENTLY...WITH STRONG WIND THE MAIN THREAT...WITH A SECONDARY THREAT OF HEAVY RAINFALL AND SLOW-MOVING STORMS. WILL HAVE TO WATCH FOR FFW POSSIBILITIES AS WELL. HEAVY RNFL JUST N OF OUR CWA MAY LEAD TO HEAVY RUNOFF INTO OUR CWA...SO THAT IS A CONCERN AS WELL AND WILL HAVE TO BE MONITORED. ALSO...THERE WILL BE A NUMBER OF OUTFLOW BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS IN THE CNTRL AND ERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA THIS EVENING...LIKELY ENHANCING SEVERE POTENTIAL AS WELL AS LEADING TO A THREAT OF BLOWING DIUST. EXPECT A RUN-OF-THE -MILL CONVECTIVE DAY THIS AREA TOMORROW...HOWEVER...DO LOOK FOR A POSSIBILITY OF ISOLATED STORMS FINALLY GETTING INTO FAR WRN PORTIONS OF THE CWA AS A WEAKENING INVERTED TROUGH MOVES ACROSS NRN MEX AND BRUSHES THAT AREA. IN THE EXTENDED...WILL KEEP A CHANCE OF STORMS INTO THU MOST AREAS OF S-CNTRL AZ...THRU SAT HIGHER TERRAIN. DRIER AIR COMING IN TO SLOW THINGS DOWN AGAIN FRI AND SAT AS ANOTHER ERN PAC TROUGH MAKES ITS PRESENCE FELT BY TURNING THE FLOW SWLY OVER A GOODLY PORTION OF THE CWA AND PROVIDING SOME COOLING AS THE HEIGHTS COME DOWN]. WILL KEEP A CHANCE OF STORMS GOING IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF ZONE 24 THRU THE EXTENDED...AS MOISTURE WILL LINGER THERE. WILT
The office that day
Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 6:40 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Gila, Maricopa | 50 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 2001Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2001
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.