Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 35, NWS Phoenix, AZ

August 9, 1990Mohave County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 9, 1990, 5:55 PM MST for Mohave County, Arizona. It was in force for 78 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 9, 1990, 5:55 PM MST (00:55 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 1990, 7:13 PM MST
In force
78 min
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Mohave County, AZ

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Mercury/Desert R, NV (KDRA), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 226 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, Mercury/Desert R, NV at 00:00Z on 1990-08-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Mercury/Desert R, NV at 00:00Z on 1990-08-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
0 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
23 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 
TTAA00 KLAS 100056
FFWLAS
AZC015-NVC003-100400-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
555 PM PDT THU AUG 9 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAS VEGAS HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...S...
 
IN NORTHWEST ARIZONA
 
   ...NORTHWESTERN MOHAVE COUNTY
 
 
IN SOUTH NEVADA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN CLARK COUNTY
 
AT 540 PM LAS RADAR SHOWS SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS MOVING WESTWARD
 
TO THE LAKE MEAD RECREATION COMPLEX. HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED FROM THE
THUNDERSTORMS.
 
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

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

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 9, 5:48 PM MST, 7 minutes before
AZZ007 100100

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE YUMA AZ
545 PM MST THU AUG 9 1990

  ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM STRUCK SAN LUIS ARIZONA AT 615 PM...

SMALL HAIL AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN WAS REPORTED FROM THE STORM...ALONG
WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS. WIND ESTIMATES WERE AROUND 60 MPH. THE STORM
IS MOVING SLOWLY TO THE WEST.

JUST TO THE NORTH...AT SOMERTON...THERE WAS NO RAIN...ONLY DUST. THE
DUST AND WIND SPREAD INTO YUMA AT 6:30...WITH GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH.

THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE WEST...INTO NORTHERN BAJA IN MEXICO.
SHOWERS WILL END IN SAN LUIS ARIZONA..AND WINDS WILL DECREASE ACROSS
THE AREA THIS EVENING.

MATHESON
Special weather statement, Aug 9, 5:50 PM MST, 5 minutes before
AZZ007 100100

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE YUMA AZ
545 PM MST THU AUG 9 1990

  ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM STRUCK SAN LUIS ARIZONA AT 515 PM...

SMALL HAIL AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN WAS REPORTED FROM THE STORM...ALONG
WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS. WIND ESTIMATES WERE AROUND 60 MPH. THE STORM
IS MOVING SLOWLY TO THE WEST.

JUST TO THE NORTH...AT SOMERTON...THERE WAS NO RAIN...ONLY DUST. THE
DUST AND WIND SPREAD INTO YUMA AT 6:30...WITH GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH.

THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE WEST...INTO NORTHERN BAJA IN MEXICO.
SHOWERS WILL END IN SAN LUIS ARIZONA..AND WINDS WILL DECREASE ACROSS
THE AREA THIS EVENING.

MATHESON

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1990Every flash flood warning in 1990

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.