Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 46, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 30, 2001Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 30, 2001, 5:27 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 48 min. No storm report in the archive falls 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.

The facts

Issued: Aug 30, 2001, 5:27 PM MST (00:27 UTC)
Expired: Aug 30, 2001, 6:15 PM MST
In force: 48 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), 50 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:29 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 145 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1073 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2004 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 0 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.

853 
WUUS55 KPSR 310027
SVRPHX
AZC021-310115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
527 PM MST THU AUG 30 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  WEST CENTRAL PINAL COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

* UNTIL 615 PM MST

* AT 525 PM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER AK-CHIN VILLAGE...OR ABOUT 21 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF SUN LAKES...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 5 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 3298 11220 3288 11208 3301 11186 3317 11211

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 30, 3:25 PM MST, 2 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 30, 3:25 PM MST, 2 hours 2 minutes before

AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-310545-

SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
325 PM MST THU AUG 30 2001

.SYNOPSIS...
AFTER A BRIEF BOUT WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTH-CENTRAL
ARIZONA TONIGHT...SHORT-TERM DRYING IS ANTICIPATED OVER THE REGION
FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. HOWEVER...AN INCREASINGLY MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW
WILL RETURN TO MOST OF SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA DURING
THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. A COUPLE OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES INTERACTING
WITH THIS MOISTURE WILL YIELD BETTER CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS THE
LATTER HALF OF THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. MEANWHILE...SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA
SHOULD REMAIN RELATIVELY DRY THROUGH THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND. AFTER
THAT...DRIER WEATHER SHOULD RETURN TO ALL OF THE FORECAST AREA BY
THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...
STORMS FORMING ABOUT THE SAME PLACE AS 24 HOURS AGO PER VISIBLE
SATELLITE PIX AND RADAR IMAGERY. ONE DIFFERENCE NOTED IS THE CU
FIELD THAT NOW OVERLAYS MARICOPA COUNTY EWD. SOME BUILDUPS TRYING TO
FORM TO S OF PHX...WHERE CONVECTIVE TEMPS ARE JUST NOW BEING REACHED
AND CAPE IS BEING REALIZED. MORNING ANALYSIS AT 300/250MB ALSO
SHOWED A BELT OF STRONGER WINDS JUST TO OUR S...PUTTING ERN PORTION
OF CWFA ON CYCLONIC SIDE OF JET FOR POTENTIAL DYNAMICS. BELIEVE WE
MAY HAVE A SLIGHTLY UPSCALE VERSION OF LAST NIGHTS STORMS...COVERING
AREAS A BIT FURTHER N AND W. OPTED TO GIVE ISOLATED/SLIGHT CHANCE
POPS MARICOPA COUNTY EWD THIS EVENING. A COUPLE OF THE STORMS COULD
GET NASTY...ESPECIALLY S AND E OF PHX. BY TOMORROW...MODELS GENERALLY
AGREE THAT WE WILL SEE SOME TEMPORARY DRYING...SO WILL KEEP ENTIRE
CWFA PRECIP-FREE FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. TEMPS WILL NOT SHOW MUCH
DAY-TO-DAY VARIATION INTO THE WEEKEND EITHER...WITH MAX READINGS
EXPECTED TO BE NEAR CLIMO.

AFTER SATURDAY...THE WEATHER PICTURE GETS A BIT MUDDLED...WITH LARGE
DIFFERENCES IN MODEL SOLUTIONS BETWEEN THE ETA AND AVN. ETA HAS MUCH
LESS TROUGHING ALONG THE W COAST OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND...WHICH
ALLOWS THE REMNANTS OF FLOSSIE TO STAY WAY TO OUR S. HOWEVER...WITH
MORE TROUGHING ADVERTIZED BY AVN...SOUTH-SOUTHWEST FLOW IS FORECAST
TO MOVE A STRING OF VORT MAXES RIGHT UP INTO THE STATE AFTER SAT. IF
THIS HAPPENS...COULD TURN VERY INTERESTING. BLASTUP CONSENSUS WAS
GENERALLY TO FAVOR MORE AGRESSIVE AVN SOLUTION. SO...HAVE INTRODUCED
TSTM CHANCES SUNDAY AND LABOR DAY FROM MARICOPA COUNTY EWD. AFTER
THIS...MRF DEVELOPS A STRONG W COAST TROUGH...WHICH SHOULD BRING
DRYING TO THE ENTIRE PHX CWFA. WILL PLAY IT THAT WAY FOR NOW.
ESTLE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 30, 5:24 PM MST, 3 minutes before

AZZ023-024-028-310400-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
524 PM MST THU AUG 30 2001

...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER A PORTION OF SOUTH-
CENTRAL ARIZONA THIS EVENING...

COUNTIES IN THE RISK AREA INCLUDE:
     IN ARIZONA...EASTERN MARICOPA AND NORTHWEST PINAL...

THE PRIMARY HAZARDOUS WEATHER RISKS INCLUDE:
    LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND WINDS GUSTING 40 TO 50 MPH.

OTHER THREATS INCLUDE: DENSE BLOWING DUST...HAIL...AND CLOUD
TO GROUND LIGHTNING.

STORMS WILL BE MOST NUMEROUS OVER NORTHERN PINAL COUNTY EARLY THIS
EVENING. INDIVIDUAL STORMS WILL MOVE TOWARD THE EAST AND NORTHEAST AT
10 MPH. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY THIS EVENING.

DG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 30, 5:54 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Pinal	51 min
Aug 30, 7:23 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Maricopa	67 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 2001 Every 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.