Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 37, NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA

January 22, 1997Santa Cruz County, California

NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA issued this flash flood warning at Jan 22, 1997, 9:00 PM PST for Santa Cruz County, California. It was in force for 4 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, 9:00 PM PST (05:00 UTC)
Expired
Jan 23, 1997, 1:00 AM PST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Area
Whole counties

County Santa Cruz County, CA

The radar

The San Francisco radar (KMUX), 18 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:00 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, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 80 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 230514
FFWSFO
CAC087-230900-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO CA
900 PM PST WED JAN 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SAN FRANCISCO HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 100 AM PST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
 
   ...SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
 
RAINFALL TOTALS OVER THE SAN LORENZO MOUNTAINS SINCE 6PM HAVE RANGED FRO2 TO 3 INCHES. THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF SMALL STREAMS
AND CREEKS OUT OF THEIR BANKS. THE SAN LORENZO RIVER HAS RISEN 3
AND A HALF FEET OVER THE PAST HOUR AND IT IS EXPECTED TO CAUSE FLOODING
WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR AROUND THE FELTON AREA. OTHER AREAS WHERE FLASH
FLOODING IS OCCURRING IS BOLDER CREEK AND BEN LOMOND. MUDSLIDES WILL
ALSO BE A PROBLEM IN THE WARNING AREA...ESPECIALLY ALONG HIGHWAY 17 AND
9.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
 
MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A
SMALL ONE...ON FOOT.
 
 
COX

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 WarningMTRNapa, Sonoma3 hr
Jan 22, 6:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRMarin3 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.