Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 46, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 20, 2003Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 20, 2003, 5:55 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 35 min. 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 20, 2003, 5:55 PM MST (00:55 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 2003, 6:30 PM MST
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Pima County, AZ

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 156 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:58 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

Phoenix, AZ (KPSR), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Phoenix, AZ at 00:00Z on 2003-08-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 189 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, Phoenix, AZ at 00:00Z on 2003-08-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 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
189 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-139 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2125 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
45 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 210056
FFWTWC
AZC019-210230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
555 PM MST WED AUG 20 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN PIMA COUNTY IN ARIZONA
  INCLUDING AJO AND WHY

* UNTIL 730 PM MST

* AT 555 PM MST...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY
  HEAVY RAIN NEAR AJO AND WHY ALONG HIGHWAYS 85 AND 86. THE          
  THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING THIS HEAVY RAIN WERE MOVING NORTH AT 10 TO 
  15 MPH.

SMALL STREAMS...SECONDARY ROADS...AND NORMALLY DRY WASHES WILL FLOOD
QUICKLY. DO NOT DRIVE INTO FLOODED AREAS. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

LAT...LON 3213 11300 3215 11258 3251 11249 3250 11309

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 21, 2:40 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima50 min
Aug 21, 3:48 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise57 min
Aug 21, 4:55 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCCochise50 min

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.