Alert archive / Colorado / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 37, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

July 31, 1997Douglas County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this flash flood warning at Jul 31, 1997, 5:30 PM MDT for Douglas County, Colorado. It was in force for 2 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued: Jul 31, 1997, 5:30 PM MDT (23:30 UTC)
Expired: Jul 31, 1997, 7:30 PM MDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Douglas County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:30 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

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 151 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 64 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -197 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1163 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 34 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 KDEN 312329 RRA
FFWDEN
COC035-010130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
530 PM MDT THU JUL 31 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
     SOUTHERN DOUGLAS

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     CASTLE ROCK...DEVIL'S HEAD...LARKSPUR...PERRY PARK AND WESTCREEK

AT 523 PM MDT WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN
OVER SOUTH CENTRAL DOUGLAS COUNTY.  RADAR RAINFALL ESTIMATES 
INDICATE 1.0 TO 2.0 INCHES HAVE FALLEN IN THIS AREA OVER IN THE PAST 
1 HOUR.  

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF CREEKS 
AND STREAMS...ROADS AND ROADSIDE CULVERTS. THE HEAVY RAINS COULD ALSO
TRIGGER ROCK AND MUDSLIDES IN STEEP TERRAIN.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS
SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS OR WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH BY FOOT OR BY
AUTOMOBILE. IF YOUR VEHICLE STALLS, ABANDON IT IMMEDIATELY AND SEEK
HIGHER GROUND.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN
DENVER.

RJK

LAT...LON 3936 10478 3924 10483 3914 10486 3914 10J526
          3929 10514 3938 10505

The office that day

Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 30, 6:35 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOU	Logan, Weld	3 hr
Jul 30, 8:05 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOU	Arapahoe, Denver	115 min
Jul 31, 2:25 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Elbert	35 min
Jul 31, 3:28 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Elbert	32 min
Jul 31, 4:00 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Lincoln, Washington	60 min
Jul 31, 4:00 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Elbert	60 min
Jul 31, 5:27 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOU	Morgan	2 hr
Jul 31, 5:30 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOU	Logan, Washington	3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Colorado, 1997 Every flash flood warning in 1997

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.