I'll NEVER!

[azsnowman]

Boy, whatta rough coupla days for you folks in the midwest, I ain't NEVER gonna complain about my crappy weather again All I have to complain about is the wind and below normal temps Sheeeesh! That's one thing about Az, we don't get no tornados, earthquakes, blizzards (so to speak!)

Dennis 8)

[Stormsfury]

Hey, Dennis, not many of us get snowfall like you do out in AZ. A lot of us would love to see snowfall like that once in a while.

I'm fortunate that my area doesn't receive severe weather outbreaks that are so common in the Plains this time of year. Irregardless of what we want or don't want weatherwise, the fact is we cannot change it and unfortunately, at times, property is damaged or destroyed, and people sometimes are lost ...

It helps everyone to be able to talk about the weather including you and myself, We are what we are...fascinated about the weather, rant and rave, and complain about the weather ... but this is exactly what this board is for ... to talk, complain, voice, warn, and enjoy weather ...

I say keep those posts coming, Dennis ...
And let's continue to pray for the people out in the Heartland that were so devastated by the severe weather outbreak.

SF

[Arizwx]

Boy, whatta rough coupla days for you folks in the midwest, I ain't NEVER gonna complain about my crappy weather again All I have to complain about is the wind and below normal temps Sheeeesh! That's one thing about Az, we don't get no tornados, earthquakes, blizzards (so to speak!)

Dennis 8)

Indeed we do get Twisters Dennis..check Tom Grazalius' Site
http://www.TornadoProject.com
We avg 4 per avg yr..You can also check for Coconino,Co.,AZ(FLG) back to 1950 for stats.
We also had an 8.0+MM quake S of Agua Prieta,Mx in the 1850s that devastated parts of Tucson,Changed the direction of the Santa Cruz River,Changed the face of the SW facing Santa Catlalina Mtns @Pusch Rudge(where I live) and literally buried the N Flowing San Pedro River to 12ft underground near Tubac,AZ..hence the 'Parado de Arboles Verdes'(Parade of Green Trees) in the middle of the Apache Badlands.
Coldest temp ever in AZ..in NEG 40F(not a windchill) not far from you.

[azskyman]

Dennis....the very first year I was here, 1997, I was invited by a friend from NWS Phoenix (this guy actually subbed for me back in IL when I needed to keep my continuous climate record in tact) to sign on with SKYWARN. The training was held at the APS building, I think it was, and one of those I sat next to just happened to have some snapshots of tornado damage in Scottsdale from a year long passed. Maybe the 1970's? Anyway...my wife was not a happy camper to learn that we had not yet escaped to a safe haven from those storms. I have since witnessed no less than 3 cold air funnels here...innocent enough by Midwest standards, but awesome in their mechanics just the same.

And DJ...don't know if you ever met Tom Grazulis...but this towering fellow might make a wonderful threesome for a conversation over coffee. I first met him at the WGN Fermilab Tornado Seminar of Tom Skilling's back in Chicago about 10 years ago.

I have a picture in my mind of you and he having one heck of a fun conversation while I simply sit back and sip the java.

[Aslkahuna]

is when the first official tornado fatalities occurred in AZ. The big earthquake south of Agua Prieta had the epicenter near Bavispe at the junction of the two faults, one the San Bernardino Fault that runs north into AZ just east of Douglas and the other that runs NW along the South Face of the Huachucas, along the Canelo Hills and into the Santa Ritas. The big shock actually occurred on May 3 1887. Additionally, the southern extension of the Wasatch Seismic zone runs into the Mogollon Rim. The Navajos and Hopi would seriously debate the idea that we get no blizzards because they have suffered through plenty of them. The last tornado in Tucson occurred on August 14 ,1996 but my son in looking through my storm videos has snagged a couple since that I overlooked at the time since they were not easily visible and I have also found another on a 1997 video that was rainwrapped but shows up on captured frames that have been digitally processed for contrast. Also since, I have videotaped overhead cloudbase rotation and a Wall/Cloud plus Funnel north of here.
I chase storms here because I know that we can get tornadoes and one day hope to see another one like I did on August 21, 1988.

Steve

[Arizwx]

Dennis....the very first year I was here, 1997, I was invited by a friend from NWS Phoenix (this guy actually subbed for me back in IL when I needed to keep my continuous climate record in tact) to sign on with SKYWARN. The training was held at the APS building, I think it was, and one of those I sat next to just happened to have some snapshots of tornado damage in Scottsdale from a year long passed. Maybe the 1970's? Anyway...my wife was not a happy camper to learn that we had not yet escaped to a safe haven from those storms. I have since witnessed no less than 3 cold air funnels here...innocent enough by Midwest standards, but awesome in their mechanics just the same.

And DJ...don't know if you ever met Tom Grazulis...but this towering fellow might make a wonderful threesome for a conversation over coffee. I first met him at the WGN Fermilab Tornado Seminar of Tom Skilling's back in Chicago about 10 years ago.

I have a picture in my mind of you and he having one heck of a fun conversation while I simply sit back and sip the java.

Indeed I know Tom 'G' and have had a few 'interesting' conversations with .I have conversed with him on a few occasions.I'm 6foot and he as you say,is the BigMan on Campus.I first met him while at a Conference in San Francisco some yrs ago.He was interested in the Nino anomoly vs Tornadic activity along the southern Branch of the STJ,as I had a theory as well..we are witnessing with these events over the past 36hrs the exact same theory.
The 82-83 Nino had him captivated,and I had some stats that literally 'Blew Him Away'.He is a terrific fellow and also was interested in Mexican MCC/MCS activity along the Rio Grande Big Bend area near Del Rio,Tx where F-5s ravage a small area and head Northward during Nocturnal hrs.
He is a MUCH nicer fellow than Tucson's own Warren Faidley,whom I have had the displeasure of 'running into' while Storm Chasing not far from Aslkahuna's vaunted Canelo Hills.'Nuff said.

[pawlee]

although we had a brief severe tstorm warning during the early part of Sunday evening, by and large Central IL was spared during the outbreak as temps were cool thus making the air over our region stable. some small hail was observed but the greater issue for most of the region was flash flooding as we did recieve locally heavy rain. in my gauge i measured .78 with approximately .60 filling it during the brief severe tstorm event. thankfully my step uncle who lives in Lee's Summit MO didn't experience any problems however his daughter to the north said she was 20 miles away from the Leavenworth event and did experience damage in her community (unknown) at the same time as the event was occurring. p

(has anyone heard from streetsoldier yet or have i missed him? i emailed him late sunday night (as i am sure alot of you have) but have not recieved a response.)

[ColdFront77]

Thank you for your reports, Pawlee.

Bill (streetsoldier) was posting here last night and was here not too long ago.

[azskyman]

Paul....I'll be in Illinois for the next few days, so do what you can to send some good looking storms (not F4-F5) my way. Got the camera too!

I'll be up north looking south...you'll be south looking north. We could easily be seeing the same glorious CB at sometime during the week!

BTW..DJ, Tucson's Warren Faidley did provide me with a few photos I was looking for, and he did advertise in my publication for a while. At one point he called me to see if I was interested in purchasing a part of the photography aspect of his business as I recall. Never met the guy, but sensed a touch of arrogance.

No room for that in the weather business.

[azsnowman]

Otay, guess I should rephrase that, "I don't live in an area that is constently under the threat of killer tornados for the duration of the spring season!" There, THAT'S what I meant to say, I know we have *little* tornados here in Az but not on a regular bases like the Plains, I've never seen one here in Az in all my years as a resident, I've seen the *blow down* in the high country that resembles tornadic damage!

Dennis

[Arizwx]

Otay, guess I should rephrase that, "I don't live in an area that is constently under the threat of killer tornados for the duration of the spring season!" There, THAT'S what I meant to say, I know we have *little* tornados here in Az but not on a regular bases like the Plains, I've never seen one here in Az in all my years as a resident, I've seen the *blow down* in the high country that resembles tornadic damage!

Dennis

O'tay!That's much better!LOL!!!!!
Just kiddin'.I remember the 'blow down' you decribed a couple of years back.Quite interesting to say the least.
We do however,have Tornadic,Straightline Wind(up to 100 mph)/Gustnado activity in the Tucson CWA during the active 'Soon,esp when the 'Rimmers' off the 'Whites' converge with a Mexican Monsoonal MCS!They are quite damaging and pack a mean punch! :o Ryan Airfield and Tuc Intl' Airport got hammered more than once.
I have witnessed more than one Tornado here in Tucson(28JULY,1994 (F-2) was quite a memorable day!!!)..including our infamous 'Wedge',that did considerable damage to homes/biz and schools.

[M2]

We watched several tornadoes in Tucson on the Davis-Monthan AFB in August of 1974 which wrapped a mobile home around a telephone pole killing the occupant. That occurred West of the Tuc International Airport and Hughes Aircraft at the time. There was a tornado in North/Northwest Tucson in the early 90s which occurred after the indicative 'green sky' and 'still-slot' as in the Midwest. The earthquake which occurred during the 1800s that AZwx/Aslkahuna refer to was so large that it changed the course of Sabino Creek in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of town and disloged boulders from the granite bedrock the size of houses which rolled down the canyon walls...they are still visible documentation. We also live in a seismically-active area since the earth's crust is very thin under AZ and numerous hot springs may be found near Safford. Most of the top levels of 'soil' around the state are volcanic remnants of the tuffs, scoria and lava which ejected from all the activity 'recently'. The White Mountains are mostly volcanic as the 'soil' is dark red/black from the pumice. All that volcanic activity made our soils very fertile, hence much of the farming/grazing/ranching within Arizona throughout history. Our biggest 'thorn' is not bad weather; it's drought.

[Arizwx]

Check this out..You may find it interesting,the Natl' Severe Storms Lab and..I certainly did that July evening!

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/swamp ... uly28.html

:o

[Aslkahuna]

My son and I went out on a major chase that day after I decided to take half a day off from work since the pattern looked like it would be worth chasing. We initially went to the west of FHU where thunderstorms were developing and rain into the "wall of water" falling from the sky along with some decent sized hail and LOTS of CG. We got into Canelo where we were forced to turn back because a 3000 yard stretch of AZ83 was under water-the video also showed some tennis ball sized hailstones on the ground alongside the road though we were getting smaller hail at the time.

We then went to my office where we checked the Doppler Radar and the lightning detector and decided to go for a storm near Bisbee. As we roared down AZ92 we saw an inflow tail developing in the south flank of the northward moving storm (storms were showing a strong right moving tendency that day). As we made the turn down Hereford road, we noted strong 30+kt inflow towards the storm. Charging down Hereford Road, passing other chasers parked alongside, we saw wall cloud development and then a funnel cloud-we were too far from it to tell if there was a surface swirl but a photographer closer to the storm did catch it-the funnel was also reported by a Cochise County Deputy. The storm then went outflow dominant as we approached the river so we decided to go on another storm which was north of Whetsone-this one also developed a wall cloud and a small funnel. This was one of our best executed chases that we have ever had and was hghly productive-though we did wish we could have followed the storm west of FHU into Tucson but we just couldn't cross the flooded area.

Steve

[Aslkahuna]

along with other members of his Chase Team at a couple of conferences. He is sometimes hard to talk to but at least he did remember me both times. One topic we both discussed at some length was the Wedge that was videotaped by a tourist on August 29 1993 as it scoured the countryside north of Fort Huachuca. We both were caught napping on that one though I did see a funnel that day (and videotaped some action 5 days earlier)-there's apparently a copy of that videotape either at the UofA or at the TUS WSFO-my son who has seen it did not specify where.
Haven't met Tom G. in person though I have communicated with him (and Richard Horodner) by e-mail in the past.

Steve

[Arizwx]

My son and I went out on a major chase that day after I decided to take half a day off from work since the pattern looked like it would be worth chasing. We initially went to the west of FHU where thunderstorms were developing and rain into the "wall of water" falling from the sky along with some decent sized hail and LOTS of CG. We got into Canelo where we were forced to turn back because a 3000 yard stretch of AZ83 was under water-the video also showed some tennis ball sized hailstones on the ground alongside the road though we were getting smaller hail at the time.

We then went to my office where we checked the Doppler Radar and the lightning detector and decided to go for a storm near Bisbee. As we roared down AZ92 we saw an inflow tail developing in the south flank of the northward moving storm (storms were showing a strong right moving tendency that day). As we made the turn down Hereford road, we noted strong 30+kt inflow towards the storm. Charging down Hereford Road, passing other chasers parked alongside, we saw wall cloud development and then a funnel cloud-we were too far from it to tell if there was a surface swirl but a photographer closer to the storm did catch it-the funnel was also reported by a Cochise County Deputy. The storm then went outflow dominant as we approached the river so we decided to go on another storm which was north of Whetsone-this one also developed a wall cloud and a small funnel. This was one of our best executed chases that we have ever had and was hghly productive-though we did wish we could have followed the storm west of FHU into Tucson but we just couldn't cross the flooded area.

Steve

Indeed Steve,I remember that as well.I was actively chasing that day,and took a direct CG hit to my chase Vehicle,then Ford Bronco.The gauges and radios inside the cabin flashed orange and then a strange purple electronic charge flashed thru the inside of the vehicle.I had 2 of my sons with me,we were just off of Tangerine Rd in Oro Valley.
The '94 event was even more intense.I was in the backyard of the 'Ol Ranchita with CJ finishing up planting a Chinese Elm,as the house was only a year old..and we were still landscaping.We contimplated BB-Qing early that afternoon,as the temps were high,around 106 with DP nearing 60F,I knew dam well,we were about to get slammed.Notice the info data from PHX/Luke 109DegF with a DP of 68F!!!Notice also,total CG pulses confirmed in 24 hrs over AZ..nearly 41,000!
We were looking ESE toward Sabino Cyn,about 17mi away,when a Towering CB became the parent of a 'Beavertail'Mammatus with Scuds were very close to my home.The CB then boiled up..I would venture 67K-70K ft.Off the rear Flank,incoming and converging from the Whites(A Rimmer)AND another HP Supercell(Tops to 70Kft)out of Reddington Pass,just S of Sabino by 20mi.
They converged very quickly,and CJ and I KNEW with the purple and white CG near Sabino,we were going to get hammered if it slid off the slope into the NW Valley.At that time,suddenly a Black Funnel,clearly visable dropped,and as it went from semi horizontal to Vertical,it spun up quickly.From the base of the Vortex came two very visable CG discharges.It was Spectacular.I recall CJ saying to me..'Is that what I think it is?'I was already loading the Cam,had the 88-D on the Comp and had the boys in the Hallway,with pillows,blankets,flashlights and NOAA WxRadio.They had my pooch 'Joe Cocker' with them.They knew the drill.
CJ gathered the Patio furniture in record time,brought them in doors,I got the Cars into the Garage and we buttoned up the Ranch just as all HELL broke loose.The twister cam right at us,veered down Orange Grove Rd,jumped NW Hospital,turned right,came to Ina and Thornydale Rds and did major damage to homes in the Massingale Subdivision...I saw it clearly as it passed within a few hundred yrds of my son's bedroom window.I took pix until I ran out of film.The windows bowed so badly,CJ was screaming at me to get away from the Glass as Hail,gravel,debris,tree limbs,etc flew by horizontaly.We had Jones Intercable at the time with the TWC on with RED screen scrolling and beeping 'Tornado Warning'.
The living room sliding glass door infact blew out,flooding part of the Kitchen area.My Oregon Scientific Wx Station clocked a max gust at 113mph with a sustained of 101mph...
Our nieghborhood sustained moderate damage,mainly missing HVAC units(one found at the bottom of my half emptied pool),siding,windows,and numerous large Trees uprooted.Power line poles along La Cholla Blvd. on the E side of Tucson Omni National Golf Course all snapped for at least 2 miles.
The CDO(Canada del Oro) Wash(normally dry) was raging..over 10ft of water moving over 30mph,with trees,cars,you name it,cutting us off from EMS and TEP Elec repair crews since it has no bridge.Several fast water rescues also ensued.

[Aslkahuna]

was definitely a violent year in AZ-especially the monsoon. As is typical with pre and post ENSO warm phase event years the monsoon started late and was not exceptionally active but was violent. In June just prior to the horrendous heatwave we had, there was a pseudo monsoon surge of moisture that resulted in boomer activity then a trough pushed in and scoured the moisture out to be followed by that monster 610 H5 High. As the dryline worked across Cochise County on the 22nd, we chased the boomers has they dropped SE into Mexico catching a rotating wall cloud and never being able to figure out just what was buried in the storms after they entered Mexico in the fading light-something was there but we weren't able to figure out what beyond a small funnel. During the big heat wave, mid level moisture worked around the big ULH and we had nocturnal high basers with tons of CG lightning and no rain but a lot of microbursts and blowing dust. These started all sorts of fires-some of which were to burn on until the monsoon started in mid July. A severe boomer at the end of June gave us hail and 69 mph winds. Besides the July 28th event, we had a spectacular storm a few days earlier that hammered us with some very noteworthy close CG strikes. In early August a smallish storm blasted us with hail, heavy rain and high winds (the sound of the hail clanging on my swamp cooler on the roof is a noteworthy aspect of my video of this storm). After a couple of interesting chases in August, late August featured two successive nights when highly active and very ugly looking storms with frequent CG came across and although we didn't get high winds the mesonet on Post recorded gusts well over 80mph and over 5.5 inches of rain deluged Nogales during one of the storms. September featured two good boomer patterns that gave us wall clouds and several funnels. Then in November and December of 1994 we wound up with major subtropical plume events that just dumped all sorts of rain on us-in fact, we got more rain in November and December than we got in July and August-unusual and a perfect leadin into what was to be our last decently wet El Nino pattern as the last two have not followed the pattern of a consistently wet winter.

Steve

[azsnowman]

O'TAY, I lied......this FRIGGIN wind is gonna send me over the EDGE Just returned from Flagstaff, winds along I-40 have been clocked over 59 :o Driving the full size van in that wind was like driving a piece of plywood Many, many 18 wheelers pulled off the off ramps, in the rest stops, saw a motor home ALMOST tip over :o The drive should have taken 2.25 hours coming home, it took over 3.5 :o AND MORE of the same tomorrow

Dennis 8)

[azsnowman]

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ

700 AM MST WED MAY 7 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR APACHE...COCONINO...NORTHERN
GILA...NAVAJO...AND YAVAPAI COUNTIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

$$
WWUS75 KFGZ 071911
NPWFGZ

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ

1205 PM MST WED MAY 7 2003

...WIND ADVISORY FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA THROUGH 8 PM MST...

.SOUTHWEST WINDS HAVE BEGUN TO INCREASE ACROSS MOST OF NORTHERN
ARIZONA THIS MORNING...AND WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON.
THESE WINDS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH A WEATHER DISTURBANCE MOVING ACROSS
NORTHERN ARIZONA TODAY.

DRIVERS OF VANS...CAMPERS...TRAILERS...AND OTHER HIGH-PROFILE
VEHICLES SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE DANGER OF THESE WINDS. FOR THE LATEST
UPDATES ON THIS WIND EVENT...CHECK THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOME
PAGE AT http://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/FLAGSTAFF...OR TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...
COMMERCIAL RADIO OR TELEVISION.

AZZ004>007-009>017-039-040-080300-
BLACK MESA AREA-CHINLE VALLEY-CHUSKA MOUNTAINS AND DEFIANCE PLATEAU-
COCONINO PLATEAU-EASTERN MOGOLLON RIM-GRAND CANYON COUNTRY-
KAIBAB PLATEAU-LITTLE COLORADO RVR VLY IN APACHE CO-
LITTLE COLORADO RVR VLY IN COCONINO CO-
LITTLE COLORADO RVR VLY IN NAVAJO CO-MARBLE AND GLEN CANYONS-
NORTHEAST PLATEAU AND MESAS SOUTH OF 264-
NORTHEAST PLATEAUS AND MESAS 264 NORTH-WESTERN MOGOLLON RIM-
WHITE MOUNTAINS-
1205 PM MST WED MAY 7 2003

...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM MST...

SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 45 MPH WILL
CONTINUE UNTIL THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST AND
SAND WITH REDUCED VISIBILITY WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STRONG
WINDS.

[Aslkahuna]

Wait until Friday!

Steve