Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 11, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

August 4, 1997Coconino County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 4, 1997, 4:45 PM MST for Coconino County, Arizona. It was in force for 105 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 4, 1997, 4:45 PM MST (23:45 UTC)
Expired
Aug 4, 1997, 6:30 PM MST
In force
105 min
Issued by
NWS Flagstaff, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Coconino County, AZ

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 150 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:44 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

Flgstf/Belemont, AZ (KFGZ), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 68 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, Flgstf/Belemont, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-08-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 381 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Flgstf/Belemont, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-08-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 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
381 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
832 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
109 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 KFLG 042348
FFWFLG
AZC005-050135-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
445 PM MST MON AUG 4 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF AZ HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...SOUTH CENTRAL COCONINO COUNTY
 
...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR SOUTH CENTRAL COCONINO COUNTY EXTENDED
UNTIL 630 PM MST...

AT 440 PM MST...FLAGSTAFF DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH CENTRAL COCONINO COUNTY FROM
FLAGSTAFF SOUTH TO THE YAVAPAI COUNTY BORDER PRODUCING VERY HEAVY
RAIN. THESE STORMS WERE FOLLOWING EACH OTHER IN A NORTHWARD
PROGRESSION.

OVER 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL HAS BEEN ESTIMATED BY RADAR AND
VERIFIED BY SPOTTERS IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS IN SOUTH CENTRAL COCONINO
COUNTY TODAY.
 
IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UPHILL TO ESCAPE
FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER
BEGINS RISING.

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.

NWS Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Aug 4, 1:55 PM MST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 1:55 PM MST, 2 hours 50 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
150 PM MST MON AUG 04 1997

BUSY AFTERNOON HERE AT FLG...WITH SEVERAL FFW'S ISSUED WITH SOME
FLOODING REPORTED.. FROM A QUICK GLANCE AT 12Z DATA MODELS INDICATING
LITTLE CHANGE ON TAP FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS..ALBEIT A BIT OF DRYING
WILL OCCUR.  VORT MAX OVER NW AZ CONTINUES TO EXIT THE STATE...BUT
WITH LOTS OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IN PLACE...THIS ALLOWED SOME HEAVY
RAIN PRODUCING THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE AREA. ONE REPORT RECEIVED OF 2
INCHES OF RAIN IN HALF HOUR. FOR THE LONGER TERM...WILL KEEP
SCATTERED POPS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS...AS THERE IS NOT MUCH SIGH OF
BREAKING OUT OF THE PATTERN. FOR TEMPS...NOT MUCH CHANGE HERE
EITHER...AS MAX TEMPS WILL DEPEND MAINLY ON CLOUD COVER...EXPECT A
BIT OF WARMING OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS...AS SOUTHERLY FLOW
CONTINUES...WITH LESS CLOUDS TO PROVIDE A BIT MORE DAYTIME HEATING.
FLG 423  INW 522
FLG...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 5PM FOR ZONES 009 012 013 015 016

The office that day

Everything else NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 3, 6:06 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZCoconino3 hr
Aug 4, 12:02 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZCoconino118 min
Aug 4, 12:02 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZCoconino118 min
Aug 4, 12:53 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZCoconino3 hr
Aug 4, 1:19 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZCoconino4 hr
Aug 4, 2:30 PM MSTTornado WarningFGZCoconino35 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 1997Every 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.