Alert archive / Arizona / Special Weather Statements in 2015

Special Weather Statement, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 7, 2015Pinal County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this special weather statement at Aug 7, 2015, 7:56 PM MST for Pinal County, Arizona. It was in force for 34 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 7, 2015, 7:56 PM MST (02:56 UTC)
Expired
Aug 7, 2015, 8:30 PM MST
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ

County Pinal County, AZ

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 14 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:56 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, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 41 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 2015-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 424 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 2015-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -20 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
424 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2401 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

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What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this special weather statement went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before this special weather statement went out at Aug 7, 3:15 PM MST, 4 hours 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 7, 3:15 PM MST, 4 hours 41 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
315 PM MST FRI AUG 7 2015

.UPDATE...TO AVIATION DISCUSSION...

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE EAST OF PHOENIX
TODAY...BUT STORM CHANCES WILL WANE ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA THIS
WEEKEND AS DRIER AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA. A RETURN TO A MORE TYPICAL
MONSOON FLOW IS EXPECTED BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...ALTHOUGH STORM
CHANCES WILL REMAIN SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL FOR MID AUGUST.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
SKIES HAVE REMAINED MOSTLY CLEAR ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SINCE
BEFORE SUNRISE...AND SOME CLOUDS HAVE FILLED IN ACROSS LA PAZ AND
EASTERN YUMA COUNTY. AN EVIDENT DRY AIR MASS RESIDES ON THE EASTERN
SIDE OF THE SAN DIEGO MOUNTAINS...DEW POINT READINGS IN IMPERIAL
COUNTY ARE IN THE 20S AND 30S WHILE IN YUMA AZ THE DEWPOINT HAS
FALLEN FROM 72F EARLY THIS MORNING TO 62F EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.
LOOKING FARTHER EAST...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ACROSS SOUTHERN GILA
COUNTY STARTED AS EARLY AS 11AM AND CONTINUES TO PERSIST THIS
AFTERNOON...AS EXPECTED ACROSS HIGHER TERRAIN.

A NOD TO THE HIGH RESOLUTION VERSION OF THE NAM-WRF MODEL WHICH HAD A
GOOD HANDLE ON INITIALIZATION THIS MORNING...SO FAR THE FORECAST HAS
PLAYED OUT NICELY. UNIDIRECTIONAL STEERING FLOW OUT OF THE SOUTHWEST
AND DECENT SHEAR /15-20 MPH/ PAIRED UP WITH 1.6 - 1.7 INCH OF
PRECIPITABLE WATER ARE INGREDIENTS FOR STORMS TO THE EAST THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THANKS IN PART TO THE OFF SHORE UPPER LEVEL
LOW OFF OF CALIFORNIA...DIFFLUENCE ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN ARIZONA
AMONG THE UPPER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND DEEP MIXING WILL CREATE
STRONG DOWNDRAFT SIGNATURES AS STORMS COLLAPSE. STRONG WINDS AND
HEAVY RAIN ARE GOING TO BE THE MAJOR HAZARDS FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENINGS STORMS. SOME BLOWING DUST WILL ALSO POSE A THREAT AS STORMS
COLLAPSE OVER OPEN DESERT. ONLY MINOR EDITS TO THE FORECAST GRIDS
INCLUDING ADDING DUST THIS AFTERNOON AND SLIGHTLY INCREASING POPS.

&&

.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION.../ISSUED AT 247 AM MST 7 AUG/....

NOT SURPRISINGLY...PERSISTENT SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ACROSS THE AREA
THROUGH THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK WILL LEAD TO WELL BELOW
NORMAL PRECIP CHANCES ACROSS THE AREA. HARD TO JUSTIFY POPS ANYWHERE
NEAR CLIMO THIS WEEKEND. A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE EAST OF
GLOBE...BUT THAT'D BE ABOUT IT.

DETERMINISTIC AND PROBABILISTIC GUIDANCE SUGGESTS A RETURN TO A MORE
TYPICAL/FAVORABLE MONSOON FLOW /EAST AND SOUTHEAST WINDS IN THE
700-300MB LAYER/ FROM TUESDAY ONWARD. THAT BEING SAID...MOISTURE
APPEARS TO BE LACKING WITH PWATS ONLY RISING TO NORMAL VALUES
/AROUND 1.25 INCHES/. WITHOUT ANY OBVIOUS TRIGGERS IN THE FLOW AND
BL MOISTURE WITHIN A FEW PERCENT OF NORMAL...IT DOESN'T APPEAR
ANYTHING MUCH HIGHER THAN CLIMO POPS ARE WARRANTED AT THIS POINT.
INHERITED FORECAST ALREADY HAD THIS IDEA AND WAS ONLY ADJUSTED
SLIGHTLY.

&&

.AVIATION...
SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA INCLUDING KPHX...KIWA...AND KSDL...
BROAD TS COVERAGE OVER THE MTNS ACROSS EASTERN AZ ARE SENDING STORM
OUTFLOWS AND BUILDING SCATTERED TS ACTIVITY INTO THE LOWER DESERT
ELEVATIONS. SOME ISOLATED TO SCATTERED TS COVERAGE WILL BUBBLE SOUTH
OF PHOENIX AND LIKELY PULSE UP AS STORM OUTFLOWS RUN UNDERNEATH
THEM. PRIMARY THREAT FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE EVENING WILL BE
ERRATIC WINDS AND SUDDEN SHIFTS BECAUSE OF THE STORM COVERAGE AND
THEIR ASSOCIATED WINDS. ONCE STORMS DO DEVELOP THEY ARE MOVING NE-
WARD SO ANYTHING ADDITIONAL STORMS THAT POP OVER SW MARICOPA COULD
BE DRAWN INTO THE PHX AREA THROUGH THE EVENING. SAVE FOR OUTFLOW
DRIVEN WINDS...WINDS OFF THE SFC TO MAINTAIN SOME S-SW HEADING BUT
MAY NOT BE REALIZED AT THE SFC. SCT-BKN MID LEVEL CB AND CIGS TO
LINGER INTO THE EVENING HOURS...WITH SKIES GRADUALLY CLEARING FROM
THE W-SW LATER INTO THE EVENING.

SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA/SOUTHWEST ARIZONA INCLUDING KIPL AND KBLH...
DRY WESTERLY SFC FLOW WILL PERSIST ELEVATED WEST BREEZES AND SCOUR
OUT THE ELEVATED DEWPOINTS...SHUTTING OFF ANY PTNL FOR STORMS FOR
THE WESTERN TERMINALS TODAY AND INTO THE WEEKEND. SOME HIGH LEVEL
PASSING CU WILL GNLY BE THE EXTENT OF SKY COVERAGE...OTHERWISE
CONDITIONS WILL BE SKC.

AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDED TAFS.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...
INCREASING MOISTURE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK WILL PUSH CHANCES OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INTO THE SOUTHERN AND WESTERN ARIZONA
DESERTS. MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITIES OF 10 TO 20 PERCENT RANGE WILL
BE COMMON ACROSS THE DESERTS THIS WEEKEND WITH SOME IMPROVEMENT
GOING INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. DRIEST LOCATION WILL BE SOUTHEAST
CALIFORNIA THIS WEEKEND WITH MINIMUM RH VALUES INTO THE SINGLE
DIGITS. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE AROUND OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL
THROUGH THE PERIOD. WINDS WILL BE LIGHT THROUGH MUCH OF THE PERIOD
FOLLOWING TYPICAL DIURNAL DIRECTIONS EXCEPT FOR AFTERNOON UPSLOPE
BREEZES GUSTING AT TIMES UP TO 20 MPH.

&&

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD
OPERATING PROCEDURES.

&&

.PSR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AZ...NONE.
CA...NONE.
&&

VISIT US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...AND AT WEATHER.GOV/PHOENIX

DISCUSSION...DEWEY/LEINS
AVIATION...NOLTE
FIRE WEATHER...KUHLMAN/CB

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 7, 5:34 PM MST, 2 hours 22 minutes before
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Local storm report, Aug 7, 5:38 PM MST, 2 hours 18 minutes before
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Local storm report, Aug 7, 5:48 PM MST, 2 hours 8 minutes before
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Local storm report, Aug 7, 5:59 PM MST, 1 hour 57 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Aug 7, 6:06 PM MST, 1 hour 50 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Aug 7, 7:56 PM MST, 0 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 7, 5:05 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRMaricopa25 min
Aug 7, 5:08 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRPinal22 min
Aug 7, 5:31 PM MSTSpecial Weather StatementPSRMaricopa29 min
Aug 7, 5:34 PM MSTSpecial Weather StatementPSR41 min
Aug 7, 6:06 PM MSTSpecial Weather StatementPSRMaricopa39 min

Nearby

Special Weather Statements in Arizona, 2015Every special weather statement in 2015

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.