Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 32, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

September 2, 1997Coconino County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 2, 1997, 7:52 PM MST for Coconino County, Arizona. It was in force for 118 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
Sep 2, 1997, 7:52 PM MST (02:52 UTC)
Expired
Sep 2, 1997, 9:50 PM MST
In force
118 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 02:52 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 00:00Z, 2.9 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 00:00Z on 1997-09-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 280 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 00:00Z on 1997-09-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 26 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
280 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1767 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFLG 030253
FFWFLG
AZC005-030450-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
752 PM MST TUE SEP 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF AZ HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 950 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...NORTHCENTRAL COCONINO COUNTY
 
...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR SECTIONS OF THE GRAND CANYON UNTIL 
1000 PM MST TONIGHT...

THE SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR THE GRAND CANYON...FROM
PHANTOM RANCH UPSTREAM TO MARBLE CANYON HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING AND WILL BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM MST.

CAMPERS IN THIS SECTION OF THE CANYON SHOULD STAY CLEAR OF NARROW
SIDE CANYONS AND WASHES THROUGH TONIGHT. THE WARNING AREA INCLUDES
THE COLORADO RIVER FROM PHANTOM RANCH UPSTREAM TO CAPE SOLITUDE IN
MARBLE CANYON. REPORTS OF FLOOD WATERS CAPABLE OF MOVING BOULDERS
HAVE BEEN RECEIVED AND CAMPERS SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW.
 
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.

PEREZ

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 Sep 2, 2:10 PM MST, 5 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 2, 2:10 PM MST, 5 hours 42 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
200 PM MST TUE SEP 2 1997

ETA SHOWS SOME H3 DVRG AND UVV OVR SOUTHEAST PART OF CWA AT MIDDAY
THEN SHIFTS IT ALL TO THE WESTERN SECTIONS AT 00Z. THIS SCENARIO
STARTING TO TAKE SHAPE WITH NEWEST CONVECTION POPPING UP OVR EASTERN
GILA AND SOUTHERN NAVAJO. WILL TREND FIRST PERIOD THIS WAY WITH
CONVECTION DYING IN EAST BY MIDNIGHT...PERHAPS LINGERING IN WEST AND
CENTRAL WHERE WEAK LIFT REMAINS INTO WEE HOURS OF MORNING. WITH NO
SIGNIF TRIGGER SEEN ON MODELS OR SAT IMAGES IN WEST...WILL NOT ISSUE
ANY FF WATCH TODAY.

FOR WED AND THU...MOISTURE ADVECTING IN FROM EAST INTO OUR EASTERN
SECTIONS SHOULD HAVE POPS BACK TO MODERATE GRADE MONSOON. OTHERWISE
SCT ACTIVITY EXPECTED AS SE FLOW KEEPS NORTHERN AZ UNDER PLENTIFUL
MOISTURE. NEED TO MONITOR FOR SIGNIF TRIGGERS EACH DAY FOR POTENTIAL
FF PROBLEMS.

FLG 353 INW 232
BET
FLG...NONE

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.