Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 35, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

September 11, 1997Yavapai County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 11, 1997, 9:27 AM MST for Yavapai County, Arizona. 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 counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 11, 1997, 9:27 AM MST (16:27 UTC)
Expired
Sep 11, 1997, 11:30 AM MST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Flagstaff, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Yavapai County, AZ

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:26 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, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 98 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 1997-09-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 588 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 1997-09-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 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
588 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1069 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
104 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 111629
FFWFLG
AZC025-111830-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
927 AM MST THU SEP 11 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF AZ HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 AM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...EASTERN YAVAPAI COUNTY
 
AT 920 AM MST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED ALMOST 4 INCHES OF RAIN
HAD FALLEN IN THE VICINITY OF SQUAW PEAK JUST SOUTH OF CAMP
VERDE IN THE LAST TWO HOURS.  A RAIN GAGE IN CAMP VERDE INDICATED
1.25 INCHES WHICH AGREES VERY WELL WITH RADAR ESTIMATES AT CAMP
VERDE.  RUNOFF FROM STRONG STORMS WILL FLOW INTO THE VERDE RIVER
AND FLOODING IS LIKELY BETWEEN CAMP VERD$E AND CHILDS IN THE
NEXT HOUR OR SO.
 
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 Sep 11, 9:01 AM MST, 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 11, 9:01 AM MST, 26 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
900 AM MST THU SEP 11 1997

SHORT DISCUSSION THIS MORNING AS ACTIVE WEATHER IN YAV CNTY IS
KEEPING ME BUSY.  HAVE ALREADY UPDATED MANY ZONES TO INCREASE POPS
DUE TO CURRENT ACTIVITY AND NOTICABLY MORE MSTR COMPARED TO YDAY
MORNING.  FGZ SNDG SHOWS SIGNIFICANT INCRS IN MSTR THRU 500 MB AND
CORRESPONDINGLY HIGHER INSTABILITIES.  WV IMGRY BEST INDICATOR OF
FRONT IN SRN NV DRAGGING FURTHER SOUTH FROM THE NRN NV S/WV.  THIS
SHOULD MOVE INTO NRN AZ BY AFTERNOON AND NOT ONLY MAY ACT AS TRIGGER
BUT SHEAR WILL BE INCREASING SOMEWHAT AHEAD OF IT.  HAVE NOT HAD A
CHANCE TO LOOK AT ANY MODEL DATA FROM MORNINGS RUNS YET...XCPT FOUSV
OUTPUT FROM NGM INDICATES STRONG MAX IN UVV BY 00Z FOR FLG.  SHOULD
CONTINUE TO BE A BUSY DAY.

FLG 3-2  INW 2-2
KEIGHTON
FLG...NONE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 11, 11:13 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZYavapai47 min
Sep 11, 11:53 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZYavapai77 min
Sep 11, 12:26 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai44 min
Sep 11, 12:26 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZYavapai44 min
Sep 11, 1:59 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZCoconino46 min
Sep 11, 4:08 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZCoconino57 min
Sep 11, 4:08 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZCoconino57 min
Sep 11, 4:42 PM MSTTornado WarningFGZCoconino33 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.