Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Los Angeles, CA

July 23, 1997Santa Barbara County, California

NWS Los Angeles, CA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 23, 1997, 6:00 PM PDT for Santa Barbara County, California. It was in force for 90 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
Jul 23, 1997, 6:00 PM PDT (01:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 23, 1997, 7:30 PM PDT
In force
90 min
Issued by
NWS Los Angeles, CA
Area
Whole counties

County Santa Barbara County, CA

The radar

The Vandenberg AFB radar (KVBX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:02 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

Vandenberg AFB, CA (KVBG), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 48 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, Vandenberg AFB, CA at 00:00Z on 1997-07-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Vandenberg AFB, CA at 00:00Z on 1997-07-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 11 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1072 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 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 KLAX 240102
FFWLAX
CAC083-240230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OXNARD CA
600 PM PDT WED JUL 23 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OXNARD HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
 
   ...NORTHERN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND THE CUYAMA VALLEY...
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF SANTA BARBARA
COUNTY AND THE CUYAMA VALLEY HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 7:30 PM.
 
THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER THE NORTHEASTERN MOUNTAINS
NEAR CUYAMA PEAK AND ARE SLOWLY DRIFTING NORTHEASTWARD OVER
HIGHWAY 33. RUNOFF FROM THE MOUNTIANS MAY CAUSE FLOODING ALONG
PORTIONS OF HIGHWAY 33.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHERL GROUND.
 
BARUFFALDI
 
&

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 23, 3:20 PM PDT, 2 hours 40 minutes before
SHORT TERM FORECASTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OXNARD CA
320 PM PDT WED JUL 23 1997

CAZ035-036-038-039-052-240500-
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY-
320 PM PDT WED JUL 23 1997   ...DO NOT USE AFTER 10 PM...

.NOW...
AT 315 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM LOCATED
OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY. THE STORM WAS
LOCATED 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF FIGUEROA MOUNTAIN AND SHOWED LITTLE
MOVEMENT. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND LIGHTNING CAN
BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY OVER THE
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS ARE EXPECTED TO DIE DOWN BY EARLY THIS EVENING.

BARUFFALDI
Special weather statement, Jul 23, 3:23 PM PDT, 2 hours 37 minutes before
SHORT TERM FORECASTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OXNARD CA
320 PM PDT WED JUL 23 1997

CAZ035-036-038-039-052-240500-
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY-
320 PM PDT WED JUL 23 1997   ...DO NOT USE AFTER 10 PM...

.NOW...
AT 315 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM LOCATED
OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY. THE STORM WAS
LOCATED 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF FIGUEROA MOUNTAIN AND SHOWED LITTLE
MOVEMENT. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND LIGHTNING CAN
BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY OVER THE
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS ARE EXPECTED TO DIE DOWN BY EARLY THIS EVENING.

BARUFFALDI

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in California, 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.