Alert archive / Oregon / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 29, NWS Pendleton, OR

May 16, 1997Wallowa County, Oregon

NWS Pendleton, OR issued this flash flood warning at May 16, 1997, 1:48 PM PDT for Wallowa County, Oregon. It was in force for 57 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
May 16, 1997, 1:48 PM PDT (20:48 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1997, 2:45 PM PDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Pendleton, OR
Area
Whole counties

County Wallowa County, OR

The nearest sounding before it

Boise Airport, ID (KBOI), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 237 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, Boise Airport, ID at 12:00Z on 1997-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 35 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, Boise Airport, ID at 12:00Z on 1997-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 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
35 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-346 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2262 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
6 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 KPDT 162048
FFWPDT
ORC063-162145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
148 PM PDT FRI MAY 16 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PENDLETON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST OREGON
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN WALLOWA COUNTY
 
AT 130 PM...DOPPLER RADAR SHOWS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS OCCURRING ABOUT
20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF JOSEPH NEAR HELLS CANYON RECREATIONAL AREA. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN OVER THE UPPER REACH OF THE IMNAHA
RIVER AND ARE SLOW MOVING. THIS INTENSIFIES THE LOCAL EFFECT ON STREAM
LEVELS.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DONH'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at May 16, 9:23 AM PDT, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 16, 9:23 AM PDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
830 AM PDT FRI MAY 16 1997

CNVCTNS CONTINUE OVR ERN 1/3 OF ORE FROM ERLY THIS MRNG. WITH WK
VORT MAX OVR CENT ORE AND SLGTLY UNSTABL AMS WE SHUD SEE SOME
CNVCTN TDY. BEST AREA APPRS TO BE SRN ORE WITH PROGGED LI'S OF -4
AND -2 XTDNG INTO NE ORE BY EVNG. PER KOTX SNDG CAPS DOES NOT LOK
AS STG AS YEST AND TD STL IN THE 50S. MDLS STL CONSISTANT WITH
DROPPING S/WV THRU B.C. NEXT 48 HRS AND FLATTENS THE RDG ALG THE W
CST FOR COOLER TEMPS. CYCLNC FLO ALF COULD PRODUCE -SHRA ERN MTNS
SUN. PRETTY GOOD WIND EVENT COULD SET UP FOR LATE SAT THRU SUN WITH
PROBLEM AREA MAINLY KITTITAS/YAKIMA VALLEY...BUT TOO EARLY FOR NOW.
FB

PDT 0100   ALW 0100   PSC 0100  YKM 0100

.PDT...FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR NACHES RVR IN YAKIMA CNTY.
       FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR YAKIMA RVR IN YAKIMA CNTY.
       FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR IMNAHA RVR IN WALLOWA CNTY.

.KPDT...VCP32/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pendleton, OR issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 1:48 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTWallowa57 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Oregon, 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.