Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 16, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

August 10, 1997Coconino County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 10, 1997, 11:07 AM MST for Coconino County, Arizona. It was in force for 3 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: Aug 10, 1997, 11:07 AM MST (18:07 UTC)
Expired: Aug 10, 1997, 2:05 PM MST
In force: 3 hr
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 18:06 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, 6.1 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-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: 558 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 662 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 122 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KFLG 101808
FFWFLG
AZC005-102105-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1107 AM MST SUN AUG 10 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF AZ HAS EXTENDED THE
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 205 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...NORTHWESTERN COCONINO COUNTY
 
AT 1103 AM MST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE CONTINUING TO DEVELOP TO THE
SOUTHWEST OF SUPAI VILLAGE.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO
THE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 10 MPH...AND WILL MOVE OVER THE VILLAGE OF
SUPAI. FLOODING HAS ALREADY BEEN REPORTED IN THE VILLAGE OF SUPAI
WITH THE CATARACT CREEK COMING UP OUT OF ITS BANKS.

PERSONS IN AND ALONG CATARACT CREEK AND SIDE CANYONS NEAR AND
DOWNSTREAM FROM THE VILLAGE OF SUPAI IN NORTHWEST COCONINO COUNTY
SHOULD MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND AT ONCE!
 
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 10, 9:00 AM MST, 2 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 10, 9:00 AM MST, 2 hours 7 minutes before

NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
900 AM MST SUN AUG 10 1997

NICE LOOKING COMPLEX OVER NW AZ AT THIS TIME WORKING INTO FLG CWA.
7H-5H TROUGH TO CONTINUE TO SPREAD SOME UVV INTO THE NW OVER THE NEXT
12 HRS. MOISTURE COMBINED WITH DAYTIME HEATING SHOULD ALLOW FOR SOME
DECENT CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT TODAY. ANOTHER THING TO WATCH IS CAA
ALOFT.  5H TEMPS TO TAKE A DIP BY A DEGREE OR TWO AS TROUGH
APPROACHES...WHILE THE REMAINDER OF THE CWA STILL HAS SFC DEW POINTS
RUNNING ABOVE 50. 12Z FGZ SOUNDING HAS DESTABILIZED FROM PAST 24
HRS...AND WHEN MODIFIED TO REFLECT AFTERNOON CONDITIONS...CAPES
RUNNING CLOSE TO 3K...A GOOD INDICATOR THAT ANY STORMS THAT DO
DEVELOP TODAY MAY BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL. WILL BE MAKING
SOME UPDATES FOR THE REST OF THE PACKAGE TO JUICE POPS A BIT TO
REFLECT CURRENT CONDITIONS.
FLG 723 INW 523
FLG...NONE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 10, 10:16 AM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGZ	Coconino	54 min
Aug 10, 10:25 AM MST	Flash Flood Warning	FGZ	Coconino	45 min
Aug 10, 10:25 AM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGZ	Coconino	45 min
Aug 10, 12:45 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGZ	Coconino, Yavapai	50 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 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.