Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 38, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

September 13, 1997Gila County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 13, 1997, 10:28 AM MST for Gila County, Arizona. It was in force for 117 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 13, 1997, 10:28 AM MST (17:28 UTC)
Expired
Sep 13, 1997, 12:25 PM MST
In force
117 min
Issued by
NWS Flagstaff, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Gila County, AZ

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:28 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

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 12:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 181 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, Tuscon, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-09-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 936 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tuscon, AZ at 12:00Z on 1997-09-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
936 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-97 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1786 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
31 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 131727
FFWFLG
AZC007-131925-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1028 AM MST SAT SEP 13 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF AZ HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1225 PM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWESTERN GILA COUNTY
 
AT 1000 AM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINS ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTH
CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST GILA COUNTY.  THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE
BETWEEN GISELA AND YOUNG WITH OTHER STORMS JUST SOUTHWEST OF
PAYSON.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 15 TO
20 MPH.  RADAR ESTIMATES AND SPOTTER REPORTS INDICATE RAINFALL
RATES OF ONE TO TWO INCHES PER HOUR WITH THESE STORMS.

TONTO CREEK...SPRING CREEK...CHERRY CREEK AND OTHER WASHES AND
STREAMS IN THIS AREA WILL BE AFFECTED BY THESE STORMS. IF
FLOODING IS OBSERVED...MOVVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.  DON'T
DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD!

KHW
 

&

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 13, 2:32 AM MST, 7 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 13, 2:32 AM MST, 7 hours 56 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
230 AM MST SAT SEP 13 1997

00Z MODELS IN FAIR AGREEMENT IN HANDLING LARGE SCALE FEATURES OVER
THE SHORT TERM. 5H RIDGE TO CONTINUE TO DOMINATE WEATHER PATTERN
THROUGH 24 HRS...AS MOIST SFC LAYER REMAINS IN PLACE OVER THE CWA.
DEWPOINT VALUES STILL RUNNING IN THE MID 50S ACROSS MOST OF THE CWA
THIS MORNING...WITH STRONG NOCTURNAL STORMS CONTINUING TO DEVELOP
OVER SOUTHERN YAVAPAI COUNTY. SHOULD SEE ANOTHER ROUND OF
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AGAIN THIS  AFTERNOON. BY 18-24 HOURS SOME
DIFFERENCES BEGIN TO CREEP INTO MODEL SOLUTIONS...ESPECIALLY IN
REGARDS TO HANDLING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WITH THE ETA-NGM. ETA PREFERS
TO KEEP MOISTURE PLUME FURTHER WEST...WHILE NGM...AS IT HAS IN THE
PAST FEW RUNS WANTS TO DRY US OUT.  A LOOK AT THE 00Z SOUNDINGS SHOW
THAT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE HAS BECOME SCOURED OUT...BUT JUST A TAD.  DO
NOT EXPECT ENOUGH MIXING TO OCCUR TODAY TO DRY US OUT TOTALLY...SO A
SCATTERING OF THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT LIKELY.

FOR DAY 2 AND THE EXTENDED...ALL EYES ARE ON LINDA. EFFECTS OF LINDA
WILL LIKELY NOT BE FELT WITHIN SECOND PERIOD...NGM-ETA IN FAIR ENOUGH
AGREEMENT IN SHOWING SOME HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE FROM CLOUD SHIELD FROM
THE HURRICANE WORKING INTO THE STATE.  THIS MAY ACTUALLY HELP
SUPPRESS DIURNAL CONVECTION FOR SUNDAY. HOWEVER...A CONVECTIVE
TRIGGER MAY STILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE FORM OF WEAK DISTURBANCE
PROGGED BY ETA-NGM TO MOVE NORTHWARD OUT OF CENTRAL MX AHEAD OF
LINDA.  NGM INDICATING FEATURE MAINLY AT LOWEST LEVELS...WHILE ETA A
BIT STRONGER WITH IT. THINK THIS MAY BE MAINLY DUE TO RESOLUTION...
SINCE AVN NOT SHOWING MUCH AT ALL IN THE WAY OF DYNAMICS MOVING INTO
THE CWA. THINKING HERE IS THAT ON SUNDAY...ANY DISTURBANCE THAT DOES
MOVE ACROSS CWA WILL BE ENOUGH TO OFFSET HIGH CLOUDS FROM LINDA...SO
WILL KEEP SCATTERED POPS IN THE FORECAST FOR THE FAVORED AREAS.

LATEST NHC GUIDANCE SHOWING LITTLE CHANGE OVER PREVIOUS FORECAST.
STILL HIGHLY UNCERTAIN AS TO WHETHER SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE WILL MAKE
IT TO NORTHERN AZ BY MONDAY...SITUATION WILL NEED TO BE WATCHED
CLOSELY.
FLG 4242  INW 3232
FLG...NONE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 13, 1:45 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZGila, Yavapai90 min
Sep 13, 5:31 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZCoconino64 min
Sep 13, 10:46 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZCoconino59 min
Sep 13, 11:42 AM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZNavajo43 min
Sep 13, 4:13 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGZCoconino32 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.