Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 29, 2001, 8:50 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 40 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 29, 2001, 8:50 PM MST (03:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 29, 2001, 9:30 PM MST
- In force
- 40 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), 39 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:51 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 29, 9:00 PM MST | Hail 0.88 | Coolidge, AZ |
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, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 106 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
- 661 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2833 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 7 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 17 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 1 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
206 WUUS55 KPSR 300350 SVRPHX AZC021-300430- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 850 PM MST WED AUG 29 2001 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... CENTRAL PINAL COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA * UNTIL 930 PM MST * AT 848 PM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ABOUT 2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF COOLIDGE...MOVING NORTHEAST 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. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD TAKE SHELTER...PREFERABLY IN A STRONG BUILDING AWAY FROM WINDOWS. 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 3297 11159 3292 11152 3298 11141 3307 11152
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 29, 3:15 PM MST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 29, 3:15 PM MST, 5 hours 35 minutes before
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-300545- SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 315 PM MST WED AUG 29 2001 .SYNOPSIS... WEAK UPPER LEVEL IMPULSES WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE AREA THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. HOWEVER...MOISTURE LEVELS WILL GENERALLY REMAIN INADEQUATE TO GIVE RISE TO DAILY THUNDERSTORMS...EXCEPT FOR ACROSS THE SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA HIGHER TERRAIN THROUGH THURSDAY...AND AGAIN OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL GRADUALLY BUILD BACK OVER THE REGION NEXT WEEK...KEEPING MOST OF SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA DRY AND SEASONABLY WARM. .DISCUSSION... SATELLITE PIX AND RADAR LOOPS WOULD SEEM TO INDICATE THAT THE CIN PRESENT IN THIS MORNINGS SOUNDINGS WAS PREVENTING ANY CAPE FROM BEING REALIZED. CU CLOUDS IN AND AROUND GTR PHX AREA ARE ABOUT AS FLAT AS CAN BE. MEANWHILE...SURGE FROM THIS MORNING HAS WEAKENED SOMEWHAT...ALTHOUGH SLY FLOW STILL EVIDENT ON KYUX VWP UP TO 5K. SFC DEWPOINTS HAVE TAPERED OFF INVOF THE CO RIVER...WITH YUM MCAS DOWN TO 63F FROM VALUES IN THE 70S EARLIER TODAY. STILL EXPECTING SOME DYNAMICS ASSOCIATED WITH A WEAK 250MB JET TO MOVE CLOSE TO THE AREA TONIGHT...BUT PROBABLY NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO INITIATE ANY NOCTURNAL CONVECTION IN PHX CWFA...MAYBE FURTHER N. THEREFORE...WILL LET ISOLATED TSTM CHANCES DIE OUT WITH THE SUNSET IN ZONE 24. 12Z MODELS DOWNRAMPED THE MOISTURE SOMEWHAT...ESPECIALLY AT 500MB LEVEL ...ON THURSDAY AND INTO FRIDAY. WILL KEEP A LINGERING SLIGHT CHANCE GOING IN ZONE 24 THU AFTERNOON/EVENING...DRY ELSEWHERE. AS MENTIONED ABOVE...TEMPS HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING ALL DAY TO RISE TO NEAR CONVECTIVE INITIATION VALUES...WITH DESERTS ONLY REACHING THE UPPER 90S TO NEAR 105...DOWN 5 TO 8 DEGREES FROM YESTERDAY. MODEL SOUNDINGS DO NOT GIVE MUCH MORE COOLING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...SO WILL GO WITH BASICALLY A PERSISTENCE TEMPERATURE FORECAST. THE EXTENDED MODELS KEEP THE FLOW PATTERNS PRETTY WISHY-WASHY...WITH NOTHING STRONG ENOUGH TO SCOUR OUT WHAT MOISTURE WE HAVE IN PLACE. SO WILL LEAVE DAILY CHANCES FOR STORMS IN ZONE 24...NOWHERE ELSE. CAVEAT TO THIS WOULD BE ANY MOISTURE INPUT FROM HURRICANE FLOSSIE. IF THAT HAPPENS AND WE GET ANOTHER SURGE OR TWO OF MOISTURE...WOULD HAVE TO CONSIDER EXPANDING TSTM THREATS FURTHER WEST IN THE CWFA OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. WILL TAKE A WAIT-AND-SEE APPROACH NEXT FEW DAYS AND SEE WHAT FLOSSIE HAS TO SAY ABOUT ALL THIS. ESTLE
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.