At 500 mb, the pronounced shortwave in the easterlies has moved westward to southwest corner of state. The 500 mb anticyclone has centers over northeast Colorado, north Texas, and northwest Arizona. It is not clear whether a second shortwave is translating into southeast Arizona this afternoon. However, steering flow today is much more favorable for outflows and propagation of storms from the east and southeast mountains toward the Valley. P chart of the 12 UTC sounding from Luke Air Force Base on August 26, 1994.
Wind speeds are in knots.
The small box indicates the location of Phoenix, and the Salt and Verde River Basins are outlined. Observed Weather Numerous heavy storms occured over most of the state except the southwest portions during the afternoon and early nighttime. An area of severe thunderstorms advanced westward toward Valley in the late afternoon, leading to severe weather in the east Valley. Storms over the northeast plateau also produced some severe downbursts in the vicinty of the Petrified Forest National Monument. Storm development in the southeast was delayed until late night, when large MCS resulted and moved westward, leaving another distinct convective spin-up vortex in southern Arizona when it dissipated by morning.