Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Tucson, AZ

June 22, 2001Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 22, 2001, 5:36 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 39 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
Jun 22, 2001, 5:36 PM MST (00:36 UTC)
Expired
Jun 22, 2001, 6:15 PM MST
In force
39 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), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:38 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
Jun 22, 5:45 PM MSTThunderstorm Wind 50 MTucson, 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, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 12 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 2001-06-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 615 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2001-06-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 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
615 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3259 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
103 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WUUS55 KTWC 230036
SVRTUS
AZC019-230115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
536 PM MST FRI JUN 22 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY IN ARIZONA
  THIS INCLUDES...ORO VALLEY...TUCSON

* UNTIL 615 PM MST

* AT 535 PM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED  
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTHEAST TUCSON...MOVING NORTHWEST
  AT 15 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  ORO VALLEY AT 610 PM MST

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND HEAVY RAIN.

LAT...LON 3208 11092 3219 11075 3252 11104 3241 11128

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 Jun 22, 2:30 PM MST, 3 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 22, 2:30 PM MST, 3 hours 6 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
230 PM MST FRI JUN 22 2001

SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN POSITIONED OVER THE AREA INTO
NEXT WEEK...WITH A STEADY FETCH OF MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTH. THIS
MOISTURE SUPPLY IN COMBINATION WITH DAYTIME HEATING WILL LEAD TO A
CONTINUED THREAT OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS. A LOW
PRESSURE TROUGH DEVELOPING ALONG THE WEST COAST EARLY NEXT WEEK
SHOULD BRING A DRIER SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW TO PART OF THE AREA...
RESULTING IN A DECREASE IN THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE WEST.

DISCUSSION...500MB THETA-E RIDGE ACROSS NORTHWEST MEXICO INTO
WESTERN ARIZONA...WITH MAIN FOCUS OF 700MB THETA-E RIDGE ACROSS
EASTERN ARIZONA. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES RANGING FROM AROUND 1
INCH FAR EAST TO AN INCH AND A HALF. MOUNTAIN BUILDUPS HAVE STARTED
ON TIME AND INITIAL FORAYS INTO VALLEYS HAVE BEEN UNIMPRESSIVE...SO
FAR THAT IS. WEVE SEEN A LITTLE DRYING IN THE FAR SOUTHEAST...BUT
MOST OF THE AREA IS HOLDING ON WITH DEEP ENOUGH MOISTURE TO REACT
WELL TO OUTFLOW INITIATED OFF HIGHER TERRAIN. GETTING PLENTY OF
HEATING AS WELL. SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH A HEAVY SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH ONE OR TWO
STORMS WORTHY OF MENTION...CERTAINLY A BIT BUSIER THAN YOUR TYPICAL
JUNE 22 AFTERNOON.

NO MUCH TO CHANGE UNTIL TROUGH DIGS A LITTLE UPSTREAM AND DRIER
SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW INCREASES IN THE WEST. THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY
RETREATING BACK TO AN EMPHASIS ON EASTERN MOUNTAINS.

.TWC...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 22, 12:02 PM MST, 5 hours 34 minutes before
AZZ019-029>035-230700-

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
12 NOON MST FRI JUN 22 2001

.SYNOPSIS...THE COMBINATION OF AMPLE MOISTURE...GOOD SURFACE HEATING
AND AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE WILL RESULT IN ANOTHER DAY OF AFTERNOON
AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. THE FOCUS FOR
THE CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER TODAY WILL BE FROM TUCSON EAST...WHERE
STRONG DOWNBURST WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT.

.DISCUSSION...NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED FROM THURSDAY AS THE ATMOSPHERE
CONTINUES TO BE MOIST AND UNSTABLE. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
DEVELOPING BETWEEN 1 PM AND 3 PM OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN EAST OF
TUCSON AND SHOW LITTLE MOVEMENT. HOWEVER BY LATE IN THE AFTERNOON
THEY WILL START TO MOVE OFF THE MOUNTAINS AND INTO THE VALLEY AREAS
AND BECOME SCATTERED IN NATURE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. THE
WESTERN DESERTS WILL SEE SOME THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AFTER SUNSET.
THE MAIN THREAT FROM THE STORMS WILL BE STRONG DOWNBURST WINDS WITH
GUSTS TO 50 MPH POSSIBLE. THE THREAT FROM FLASH FLOODING TODAY IS
MINIMAL.

STORM MOVEMENT WILL BE WEST-NORTHWEST AT 10 TO 15 MPH.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 22, 6:15 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima45 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.