Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 16, 2001Cochise County, Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 2001, 7:29 PM MST for Cochise County, Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 31 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 16, 2001, 7:29 PM MST (02:29 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 2001, 8:00 PM MST
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Cochise County, AZ, Pima County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 34 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 2001-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 378 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 2001-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 7 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
378 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2903 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 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.

755 
WUUS55 KTWC 170230
SVRTUS
AZC003-019-170300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
729 PM MST THU AUG 16 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EXTREME NORTHWESTERN COCHISE COUNTY IN ARIZONA
  EXTREME NORTHEASTERN PIMA COUNTY IN ARIZONA

* UNTIL 800 PM MST

* AT 728 PM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
  LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR REDINGTON TO JUST NORTH OF 
  BENSON...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH.

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR...
  SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK EAST AT 750 PM

IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...GO INSIDE A STURDY SHELTER
AWAY FROM CREEK BEDS AND OTHER FLOOD-PRONE AREAS. REMEMBER...A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE LARGE DAMAGING HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS IN 
EXCESS OF 57 MPH...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.

LAT...LON 3252 11049 3199 11033 3193 11067 3251 11085

PYTLAK

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 Aug 16, 6:18 PM MST, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 6:18 PM MST, 1 hour 11 minutes before
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION...MESOSCALE UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
618 PM MST THU AUG 16 2001

.SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN FROM THE WEST THE NEXT FEW
DAYS. THE RESULTING FLOW PATTERN WILL DIMINISH THUNDERSTORM
COVERAGE...ESPECIALLY OVER THE WESTERN DESERTS...WITH DRIER AIR TO
THE NORTH AND DEEPER MOISTURE IN NORTHERN MEXICO. BY EARLY NEXT
WEEK...THE HIGH MOVES EAST OF ARIZONA AND THE FLOW BECOMES FAVORABLE
FOR A RETURN TO NORMAL THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.

.DISCUSSION...SEVERAL STORM CLUSTERS CONTINUE TO MOVE GENERALLY W
TOWARD KTUS FROM COCHISE/GRAHAM COUNTIES. CELL ORGANIZATION HAS BEEN
LOOSE, PULSEY, AND OUTFLOW DOMINATED SO FAR. 00Z KTUS SOUNDING IS
SURPRISINGLY STABLE (CAPE AROUND 900 J/KG) WITH A CAP AT 500MB. THE
ONE TROUBLING THING I SEE IS THAT OUR BOUNDARY LAYER IS VERY DEEP
AND RATHER DRY. INVERTED-V EXTENDING UP TO 600MB RAISES A RED FLAG
FOR MICROBURSTS AS THE STORMS STRUGGLE TO MOVE INTO THE SANTA CRUZ
VALLEY THROUGH 8 PM. TSTMS HAVE RECENTLY WEAKENED IN W COCHISE
COUNTY AS THEY HIT MORE STABLE AIR. LAPS DATA FROM 00Z SHOWS THE
HIGHEST CAPES OVER EASTERN PINAL AND SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES, BOTH OF
WHICH CLEARED OUT A LITTLE EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. HOWEVER, THE 21Z
RUN INDICATES COME MID LEVEL COOLING WITHIN THE NEXT 3 HRS AS UPPER
LEVEL DIVERGENCE INCREASES OVER SE AZ. THERE ARE ALSO SEVERAL
OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES NOW MOVING TOWARD THE AREA, A COUPLE OF WHICH ARE
GOING TO COLLIDE BASED ON WSR-88S LOOPS. IN SUMMARY, ANY STORMS
WHICH CAN DEVELOP OVER PINAL, EASTERN PIMA, AND SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES
WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE MICROBURSTS OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL
HOURS. HOWEVER, COVERAGE WILL BE ISOLATED THANKS TO OUR SOMEWHAT
LIMITED CAPES. PYTLAK

.TWC...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 16, 5:47 PM MST, 1 hour 42 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON ARIZONA
547 PM MST THU AUG 16 2001

TIME (MST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0500 PM    PISINEMO                  AZ   WIND DAMAGE
08/16/01   PIMA                           ROOF RIPPED OFF HOUSE IN PISINIMO
                                          WITH POWER LINES DOWN.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 7:02 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise28 min
Aug 16, 9:16 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal29 min
Aug 16, 10:03 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal57 min
Aug 17, 1:15 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima30 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.