Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 69, NWS Tucson, AZ

August 27, 2003Pima County, Arizona

NWS Tucson, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 27, 2003, 1:39 PM MST for Pima County, Arizona. It was in force for 51 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 27, 2003, 1:39 PM MST (20:39 UTC)
Expired
Aug 27, 2003, 2:30 PM MST
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Tucson, AZ
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Pima County, AZ

The radar

The Tucson radar (KEMX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:42 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, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 36 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 2003-08-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 544 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 2003-08-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 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
544 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
986 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
12 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 272040
FFWTWC
AZC019-272230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
139 PM MST WED AUG 27 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL PIMA COUNTY IN ARIZONA
   INCLUDING THREE POINTS AND THE SAN XAVIER MISSION

* UNTIL 330 PM MST

* AT 135 PM MST...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER  
  OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN EXTENDING FROM THREE POINTS
  TO THE SAN XAVIER MISSION. THE AREA OF HEAVY RAIN WAS NEARLY
  STATIONARY. AN AUTOMATED RAIN GAGE ON KEYSTONE PEAK REPORTED A 
  HALF AN INCH OF RAIN IN ONLY 15 MINUTES FROM THIS CLUSTER.

NEVER DRIVE INTO A FLOODED AREA. THE ROAD AHEAD MAY BE UNDERMINED OR
WASHED AWAY. ABANDON VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER IMMEDIATELY.

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR 
THE SAN XAVIER MISSION AREA.

LAT...LON 3218 11141 3183 11142 3184 11103 3217 11099

PYTLAK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 26, 5:00 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal45 min
Aug 26, 5:01 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTWCPinal44 min
Aug 26, 5:15 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima105 min
Aug 26, 5:45 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPinal
Aug 27, 11:51 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima54 min
Aug 27, 2:57 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCPima33 min
Aug 27, 4:21 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningTWCCochise9 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.