Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 30, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 1, 2003Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 1, 2003, 4:35 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 1, 2003, 4:35 PM MST (23:35 UTC)
Expired
Aug 1, 2003, 7:30 PM MST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Pima County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:36 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 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 26 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 12:00Z on 2003-08-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 426 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 12:00Z on 2003-08-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 29 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
426 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-56 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
879 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 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.

000 
WGUS55 KTWC 012335
FFWTWC
AZC019-020330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
435 PM MST FRI AUG 1 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN PIMA COUNTY IN ARIZONA
    THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...CATALINA AND ORO VALLEY

* UNTIL 830 PM MST

* AT 424 PM MST...PIMA COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT PERSONNEL 
  REPORTED THAT THREE TO FIVE FEET OF WATER IS FLOWING DOWN THE 
  CANADA DEL ORO WASH. RESIDENTS IN LOW-LYING AREAS OF CATALINA 
  SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR RAPIDLY RISING WATER THROUGH 530 PM.

THIS FLOW OF WATER WILL CONTINUE DOWN THE CANADA DEL ORO WASH 
THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS AND WILL LIKELY AFFECT LOW WATER 
CROSSINGS ON OVERTON AND LA CHOLLA ROADS...MOST LIKELY BETWEEN 630 
PM AND 730 PM THIS EVENING. NEVER DRIVE YOUR AUTOMOBILE INTO A 
FLOODED WASH. BETWEEN ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN FELL ON THE NORTH 
SIDE OF THE CATALINA MOUNTAINS AND THIS HAS CAUSED THE INCREASED 
WATER FLOW DOWN THE CANADA DEL ORO WASH.

LAT...LON 3241 11086 3254 11101 3237 11125 3221 11106

GLUECK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 31, 6:30 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPima30 min
Jul 31, 6:50 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 2003Every flash flood warning in 2003

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.