Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS Eureka, CA

December 28, 1996Del Norte County, Humboldt County, California

NWS Eureka, CA issued this flash flood warning at Dec 28, 1996, 4:20 PM PST for Del Norte County, Humboldt County, California. It was in force for 24 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 28, 1996, 4:20 PM PST (00:20 UTC)
Expired
Dec 29, 1996, 4:00 PM PST
In force
24 hr
Issued by
NWS Eureka, CA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Del Norte County, CA, Humboldt County, CA

The radar

The Eureka (Bunker Hill) radar (KBHX), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:28 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

Medford/Jackson, OR (KMFR), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 158 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, Medford/Jackson, OR at 00:00Z on 1996-12-29Temperature 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, Medford/Jackson, OR at 00:00Z on 1996-12-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 279 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
831 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
279 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
682 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 KEKA 290020
FFWEKA
CAC015-023-300000-

SMALL RIVER AND CREEK FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA
420 PM PST SAT DEC 28 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EUREKA, CA HAS ISSUED A SMALL RIVER
AND CREEK FLOOD WARNING FROM MIDNIGHT UNTIL 4 PM SUNDAY FOR THE
PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS:

IN NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA
...DEL NORTE AND HUMBOLDT COUNTIES... 

RAIN HAS STARTED AHEAD OF A STRONG PACIFIC STORM.  IT WILL INCREASE
THIS EVENING WITH THE HEAVIEST AMOUNTS LATE TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY
MORNING.  RAINFALL AMOUNTS BETWEEN 2 TO 5 INCHES BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON
ARE POSSIBLE.
 
FLOODING WILL BEGIN ON MANY SMALL RIVERS AND CREEKS AFTER MIDNIGHT. 
DO NOT TRY TO CROSS FLOODED HIGHWAYS.  MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN
AUTOMOBILES.  BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO
RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLOODS.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH
RISING WATER.

DEAN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 29, 11:47 AM PSTFlash Flood WarningEKAHumboldt, Mendocino, Trinity118 min
Dec 29, 2:05 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningEKAMendocino3 hr
Dec 29, 3:15 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningEKAMendocino4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in California, 1996Every flash flood warning in 1996

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.