Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 48, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

September 25, 1997Coconino County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 25, 1997, 11:57 PM MST for Coconino 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 25, 1997, 11:57 PM MST (06:57 UTC)
Expired
Sep 26, 1997, 2:25 AM MST
In force
2 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 06:58 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, 7.0 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 1997-09-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 64 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-09-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 180 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
64 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1109 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
180 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
303 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 260657
FFWFLG
AZC005-260925-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1157 PM MST THU SEP 25 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF AZ HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 225 AM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...WESTERN AND NORTHWESTERN COCONINO COUNTY
 
AT 1150 PM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN CONTINUING OVER NORTHWESTERN AND NORTHERN
COCONINO COUNTY. THE AREA OF RAIN EXTENDED FROM THE UTAH BORDER
NEAR PAGE...SOUTHWESTWARD TO THE YAVAPAI COUNTY BORDER. THE
PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 30 MILES AN
HOUR.

RADAR RAINFALL ESTIMATES AND SPOTTER REPORTS INDICATED THAT UP TO
1 INCH OF RAIN FELL IN THIS AREA SINCE 10 PM MST. THE RAIN WAS
FALLING ON ALREADY SATURATED GROUND AND THIS WILL CAUSE STREAMS
AND WASHES IN NORTHWESTERN AND WESTERN COCONINO COUNTY TO FLOOD.

AREAS INCLUDED IN THIS WARNING INCLUDE...THE GRAND CANYON NATIONAL
PARK...SUPAI VILLAGE AND HAVASUPAI INDIAN RESERVATION...AND
FREDONIA.

PEOPLE ALONG CATARACT CREEK AND SUPAI VILLAGE...THE PARIA RIVER...
AND SIDE CANYONS AND SMALLER DRAINAGEbS OF THE GRAND CANYON SHOULD
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
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 25, 9:15 PM MST, 2 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 25, 9:15 PM MST, 2 hours 42 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
915 PM MST THU SEP 25 1997

BUSY NIGHT AS NORA HIT WESTERN CWA AS EXPECTED...THOUGH LACKED PUNCH
ELSE WHERE SO FAR. NORA DOWN TO DEPRESSION AND QUICK LOOK AT NEW DATA
SHOWS REMNANTS MOVING QUICKLY NORTH NORTHEAST LATER TONIGHT. EXPECT
FOCUS TO BE IN NORTHCENTRAL AZ LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY MORNING HOURS
FRIDAY. CONSIDERING ITS RESOLUTION...ETA NOT BEEN TO BAD WITH
PLACEMENT OF QPF. ETA CONTS TREND AND FORECASTS SHOULD BE IN LINE FOR
MOST PART...THROUGH AM CONCERNED LITTLE RVR VALLEY NORTHEASTWARD MAY
BE HIT TO HARD FOR THIS EVENING...BUT WILL LET RIDE AS DO NOT WANNA
SECOND GUESS AT THIS POINT.

FLG 9732 INW 7620
FLG...FFA ZNS 04>09...12...15...16...18...TNGT.
      WND ADV 07>08...12...15...16...18 TIL 0545Z.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 25, 7:01 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai119 min
Sep 25, 8:15 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZCoconino4 hr
Sep 25, 8:16 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZCoconino4 hr
Sep 25, 9:01 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai119 min
Sep 26, 2:52 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai3 hr
Sep 26, 5:54 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai2 hr
Sep 26, 8:21 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai119 min
Sep 26, 10:32 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai88 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.