Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 1992

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Sacramento, CA

July 16, 1992Tuolumne County, California

NWS Sacramento, CA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 16, 1992, 5:12 PM PDT for Tuolumne County, California. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 16, 1992, 5:12 PM PDT (00:12 UTC)
Expired
Jul 16, 1992, 7:15 PM PDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Sacramento, CA
Area
Whole counties

County Tuolumne County, CA

The nearest sounding before it

Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 200 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, Oakland, CA at 00:00Z on 1992-07-17Temperature 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, Oakland, CA at 00:00Z on 1992-07-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -7 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
1886 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
18 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 KSAC 170009
FFWSAC
CAC017-061-109-170215-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
512 PM PDT THU JUL 16 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SACRAMENTO HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...S...
 
IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
 
   ...EASTERN EL DORADO COUNTY...EASTERN PLACER COUNTY
 
IN EAST CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
 
   ...TUOLUMNE COUNTY
 
THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS WERE LOCATED NEAR EMIGRANT
GAP...WHICH IS ALONG HIGHWAY 80 AND NEAR STRAWBERRY IN TUOLUMNE COUNTY
ALONG HIGHWAY 108. THESE STORMS WERE SHOWING LITTLE MOVEMENT AND THE
STRONG RAINS BEING PRODUCED SHOULD CAUSE FLOODING OF STREAMS IN THE
AREA. THIS WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM...WHEN STORMS SHOULD BEGIN
TO DECREASE IN INTENSITY.
 
 
 
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.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
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.
CRONIN

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, Jul 16, 2:37 PM PDT, 2 hours 35 minutes before
CAZ009-162245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
235 PM PDT THU JUL 16 1992

...THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER THE SIERRA NEVADA...

AT 225 PM PDT...AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAINSHOWERS WAS
IN THE SIERRA NEVADA...NEAR LIBERTY HILL..ABOUT 50 MILES SOUTH OF LAKE
TAHOE.

THIS SHOWER WAS PART OF A MUCH LARGER AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS
THAT COVERED THE SIERRA NEVADA FROM BURNEY SOUTHEAST TO 30 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF BISHOP.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERE WERE ALSO OBSERVED ALONG THE COASTAL RANGE
FROM UKIAH NORTH TO 30 MILES WEST OF RED BLUFF.

LITTLE MOVEMENT HAS BEEN OBSERVED.
ECC
Special weather statement, Jul 16, 3:38 PM PDT, 1 hour 34 minutes before
CAZ009-162345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
335 PM PDT THU JUL 16 1992

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER THE SIERRA NEVADA...

AT 325 PM PDT...AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAINSHOWERS WAS
IN THE SIERRA NEVADA...EAST OF LIBERTY HILL..ABOUT 50 MILES SOUTH OF LAKE
TAHOE.

ALSO A THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAIN WAS OBSERVED NEAR MAMMOTH LAKES.

THESE SHOWERS WERE PART OF A MUCH LARGER AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
THAT EXTENDED FROM BURNEY SOUTH TO 45 MILES NORTHEAST OF VISALIA.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERE WERE ALSO OBSERVED ALONG THE COASTAL RANGE
FROM UKIAH NORTH TO 30 MILES WEST OF RED BLUFF.

LITTLE MOVEMENT HAS BEEN OBSERVED.

PERSONS PLANNING TRAVEL TO THE SIERRA NEVADA SHOULD BE
PREPARED FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN..FREQUENT LIGHTNING..POSSIBLE
HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS AND USE CAUTION ON THE ROADWAYS.

ECC
Special weather statement, Jul 16, 4:53 PM PDT, 19 minutes before
CAZ009-170045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
430 PM PDT THU JUL 16 1992

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SIERRA NEVADA...

AT 425 PM PDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINSHOWERS WERE
LOCATED IN THE SIERRA NEVADA NEAR EMIGRANT GAP ALONG HIGHWAY 80
AND NEAR STRAWBERRY IN TUOLUMNE COUNTY.

RADAR INDICATES THAT THESE AREAS HAVE EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN.
THE THE STORMS NOT MOVING MUCH...FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE.

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN FALLING IN THE SIERRA NEVADA FROM
SUSANVILLE TO KINGS CANYON PARK AND IN THE COASTAL RANGE FROM
UKIAH TO WEAVERVILLE.

THE STORMS ARE NOT MOVING MUCH.
CRONIN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Sacramento, CA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 16, 5:12 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningSTOEl Dorado, Placer2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in California, 1992Every flash flood warning in 1992

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.