Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 35, NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA

January 22, 1997Napa County, Sonoma County, California

NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA issued this flash flood warning at Jan 22, 1997, 6:00 PM PST for Napa County, Sonoma County, California. It was in force for 3 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
Jan 22, 1997, 6:00 PM PST (02:00 UTC)
Expired
Jan 22, 1997, 9:00 PM PST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Napa County, CA, Sonoma County, CA

The radar

The Sacramento radar (KDAX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:04 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

Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 95 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, Oakland, CA at 00:00Z on 1997-01-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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, Oakland, CA at 00:00Z on 1997-01-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 357 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
541 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
357 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
545 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 KSFO 230201
FFWSFO
CAC097-041-055-030500-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO CA
600 PM PST WED JAN 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SAN FRANCISCO HAS EXTENDED A FLASH
FLOOD WARNING UNTIL 900 PM PST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
 
   ...SONOMA COUNTY...NAPA COUNTY...MARIN COUNTY...

HEAVY RAINS EARLIER TODAY CAUSED SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS IN THE
WARNING AREA TO FLOOD. LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN CONTINUES ACROSS MUCH
OF THE WARNING AREA EARLY THIS EVENING. ALTHOUGH RAINFALL RATES HAVE
DECREASED...HEAVY RUNOFF WILL RESULT IN CONTINUED FLOODING IN THE
WARNING AREA FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

IN SONOMA COUNTY...THE PETALUMA RIVER IS ABOVE BANKFUL. IN NAPA 
COUNTY...REDWOOD CREEK AND NAPA CREEK NEAR NAPA ARE ALSO OVER THEIR
BANKS. WITH CONTINUED HEAVY RUNOFF THESE SMALL STREAMS AND OTHERS IN
THE WARNING AREA WILL CONTINUE OVER THEIR BANKS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE
OF HOURS. MUDSLIDES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE THIS EVENING. 

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT. ITS IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO STREAMS...
RIVERS...OR CREEKS WHICH CAN BECOME KILLERS IN HEAVY RTAINS. 

DYKEMA

The office that day

Everything else NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 22, 6:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRMarin3 hr
Jan 22, 9:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRSanta Cruz4 hr

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.