Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 52, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

September 26, 1997Yavapai County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 26, 1997, 10:32 AM MST for Yavapai County, Arizona. It was in force for 88 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 26, 1997, 10:32 AM MST (17:32 UTC)
Expired
Sep 26, 1997, 12:00 PM MST
In force
88 min
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 17:33 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, 5.5 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 1997-09-26Temperature 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 261733
FFWFLG
AZC025-261900-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
1032 AM MST FRI SEP 26 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF AZ HAS EXTENDED THE
FLASH FLOOD WARNING UNTIL 1200 PM MST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

   ...ALL OF YAVAPAI COUNTY EXCEPT THE NORTHWEST CORNER...
 
AT 1015 AM MST...REPORTS FROM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
OFFICIALS INDICATE LIGHT TO MODERATE RAINS CONTINUE TO FALL OVER
PORTIONS OF YAVAPAI COUNTY.  RAINFALL TOTALS SINCE EARLY YESTERDAY
AFTERNOON GENERALLY RANGE FROM THREE TO SIX INCHES WITH NUMEROUS
REPORTS OF FLOODING AND CLOSED ROADS.  RAIN WILL CONTINUE OVER
THIS AREA THROUGH NOON BUT SHOULD DECREASE IN INTENSITY.

DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD!  IF FLOODING
IS OBSERVED...MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY AND DO NOT STAY IN
AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATERS BEGIN TO RISE.
 

&

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, 9:00 AM MST, 1 hour 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 26, 9:00 AM MST, 1 hour 32 minutes before
NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
900 AM MST FRI SEP 26 1997

RNS PRIMARILY CONFINED TO ERN HLF OF ZN 8 AND ZN 15 ATTM WTH PCKTS OF
HVY RN STILL OCCRNG.  LUKS LIKE UPSLP FLW OVR THIS AREA ENHNCD BY
SHRT WV ENTRNG SRN NV/SERN CA ATTM.  THIS DSTRBNC SHWS UP ON SAT PIX
AND INITIALIZED NCLY BY THIS AM/S ETA. SAT PIX SHW WDSPRD LOW LVL
MOISTURE OVR MCH OF OUR RGN XCPT ERN SCTNS WTH HGHR...COLDER CLD TPS
NOW E OF THE AREA.  WTH DSTRBNC TO OUR W PROGGED TO CROSS OUR RGN
TDY...WUD NT XPCT SGNFCNT IMPRVMNT WRN AND CNTRL SCTNS TIL LTR TNGT
AT THE ERLYST...ESPCLLY WTH SWRLY FLW AHD OF IT.  LIKELY POPS ERN YAV
AND RIM CNTRY TDY LUKS GUD WTH SCTD POPS ELSWHR AS THIS DSTRBNC
CROSSES THE RGN TDY.  WILL UPDATE PCKG TO TWK FRST PD WRDNG...WILL
ALSO LET FFA FOR ZN 8 EXPIRE AS WE ARE NOW IN A WRNG MODE.  UPDATE
OUT SHRTLY.  KHW

FLG 92- INW 42-
FLG...NONE

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, 5:54 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai2 hr
Sep 26, 8:21 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai119 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.