Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Flagstaff, AZ
NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Aug 3, 1997, 12:46 PM 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 3, 1997, 12:46 PM MST (19:46 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 3, 1997, 3:45 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 19:45 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, 7.8 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 43 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -78 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1416 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 15 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 25 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFLG 031948 FFWFLG AZC005-032245- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 1246 PM MST SUN AUG 3 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF AZ HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA ...EASTERN COCONINO COUNTY AT 1245 PM MST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER EASTERN COCONINO COUNTY. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LEUPP NEAR CANYON DIABLO AND WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR. DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT HEAVY RAIN WAS FALLING IN THE SAN FRANCISCO WASH. RESIDENTS IN AND AROUND LEUPP SHOULD MONITOR CONDITIONS ALONG SAN FRANCISCO WASH. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF FLOOD WATERS THREATEN... DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE ACROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS.
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 3, 9:14 AM MST, 3 hours 32 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 3, 9:14 AM MST, 3 hours 32 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 900 AM MST SUN AUG 03 1997 COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE CONTINUES TO WORK INTO THE CWA FROM THE SOUTH. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AZ AT THIS TIME. A QUICK LOOK AT 12Z ETA-RUC APPEARS TO HAVE PICKED UP ON THIS FEATURE IN ITS INITIALIZATION AT THE 5H LEVEL...BUT IS PLACEMENT MAY BE A BIT TOO FAR TO THE NORTH. PREFER NGM INITIALIZATION THIS MORNING. NGM TAKES THIS FEATURE SLOWLY TO THE NORTHWEST INTO CENTRAL AZ...WITH THE ETA TRACKING IT INTO SOUTHERN CA AND NV. APPEARS FROM WATER VAPOR IMAGERY THIS FEATURE WILL HEAD RIGHT UP THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY. WITH THE MOISTURE ALREADY IN PLACE... THIS FEATURE PROVIDING ENOUGH DYNAMICS TO PRODUCE LARGE AREA OF SHOWER ACTIVITY WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS OVER YAVAPAI COUNTY. LOOKING AT POSSIBILITY OF EXTENDING FLASH FLOOD WATCHES TO YAVAPAI COUNTY...WITH RAINFALL RECEIVED FROM LAST NIGHT...IF ANY ADDITIONAL HEAVY SHOWERS DEVELOP...IT COULD BE THAT FLASH FLOODING WILL BECOME GOOD POSSIBILITY. NOTED SPC PLACED PORTIONS OF COUNTY UNDER SLIGHT RISK TODAY AS WELL. FOR NOW...HAVE UPDATED ZONES INCREASING POPS AS NEEDED. FOR THE REST OF THE CWA...ANY SHOWER OR THUNDERSTORM THAT DEVELOPS WILL NEEDED TO BE SFC HEATING INDUCED AS DYNAMIC KICKER NOT REALLY PRESENT. NOTED SOME CLEARING TO BEGIN OVER NE AZ...IF THIS TREND CONTINUES...THEN AFT SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVhITY SHOULD BEGIN ON SCHEDULE TODAY...BEGINNING WITH THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS FIRST. TEMPS LOOKING GOOD ACROSS THE CWA...ALTHOUGH SOME LOCATIONS MAY NOT QUITE GET AS WARM AS FORECAST WITH THE CLOUD COVER IN PLACE. FLG 645 INW 524 FLG...NONE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 7:00 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGZ | Navajo | 30 min |
| Aug 3, 11:27 AM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGZ | Coconino | 58 min |
| Aug 3, 12:17 PM MST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGZ | Navajo | 48 min |
| Aug 3, 3:08 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | FGZ | Navajo | 117 min |
| Aug 3, 3:53 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | FGZ | Coconino | 2 hr |
| Aug 3, 4:51 PM MST | Flash Flood Warning | FGZ | Navajo | 5 hr |
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.