Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 50, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

September 26, 1997Yavapai County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 26, 1997, 5:54 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 26, 1997, 5:54 AM MST (12:54 UTC)
Expired
Sep 26, 1997, 8:20 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 12:53 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, 0.9 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 1997-09-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 37 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 1997-09-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 167 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
37 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-45 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
621 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
167 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
186 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 261255
FFWFLG
AZC025-261520-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
554 AM MST FRI SEP 26 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF AZ HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 820 AM MST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...ALL OF YAVAPAI COUNTY EXCEPT THE NORTHWESTERN CORNER
 
AT 550 AM MST...REPORTS FROM SPOTTERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
CONTINUED TO INDICATE HEAVY RAIN AND SOME FLOODING OVER
SOUTHWESTERN AND CENTRAL YAVAPAI COUNTY. HEAVY RAIN WAS SPREADING
INTO EASTERN YAVAPAI COUNTY. RAINFALL RATES OF OVER AND INCH AND
HOUR HAVE BEEN REPORTED OVER ALREADY SATURATED GROUND.

SOME AREAS AFFECTED... BAGDAD...PRESCOTT...PRESCOTT VALLEY...
CORDES JUNCTION...CAMP VERDE...COTTONWOOD...CLARKDALE AND SEDONA.
 
CREEKS AND WASHES IN THESE AREAS CONTINUE TO FILL WITH RUNOFF AND
FLASH FLOODING IS LIKELY WITHIN THE NEXT 2 HOURS.

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 26, 2:52 AM MST, 3 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 26, 2:52 AM MST, 3 hours 2 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
248 AM MST FRI SEP 26 1997

NOT A VERY CLEAR CUT FORECAST...ESPECIALLY THE FIRST PERIOD. TRAINING
ECHOES CONTINUE OVER ZONES 7/8/15 WITH THE HEAVIEST ACTIVITY OVER
ZONE 8. WILL CONTINUE THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN ZONE 8 THROUGH 900 AM.
OTHERWISE...WILL ALLOW THE REMAINDER OF THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH AND THE
WIND ADVISORY TO EXPIRE WITH THE 345 PACKAGE.

RAMSDIS IMAGERY INDICATES DRIER AIR WORKING INTO NORTHWEST AZ FASTER
THAN ALL THE 00Z MODELS SO NOT REAL CONFIDENT WITH ANY OF THE MODELS
SOLUTIONS. ANOTHER NOTE...COLDEST TOPS ON SATELLITE IMAGERY IN
EASTERN AZ HAS NOT CORRESPONDED TO ANY PRECIPITATION REACHING THE
GROUND.

EXPECT ACTIVITY TO BEGIN TO TAPER OFF THROUGHOUT THE DAY...SO WILL
CARRY HIGHEST POPS (MORNING HOURS) BASED ON RADAR IMAGERY...SCATTERED
POPS ELSEWHERE. EXPECT ISOLATED ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING
HOURS...WITH SCT ACTIVITY IN THE NORTHEAST QUARTER AS REMAINING H5
MOISTURE PULLS OUT. ALL THE MODELS KEEP TROUGHINESS OVER THE STATE
INTO SAT. ETA AND NGM LINGER ENOUGH RH WITHIN THE TROUGH FOR ISOLATED
SHOWERS THROUGHOUT THE CWFA SAT. AVN IS DRY SAT AND MAY BE RIGHT...
BUT WILL PLAY IT RELATIVELY SAFE FOR NOW.

FLG 62- INW 42-

FLG...FFA ZNS 08 TIL 1600Z.

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 25, 11:57 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZCoconino2 hr
Sep 26, 2:52 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai3 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.