Alert archive / Oregon / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 33, NWS Pendleton, OR

May 31, 1997Morrow County, Oregon

NWS Pendleton, OR issued this flash flood warning at May 31, 1997, 11:45 AM PDT for Morrow County, Oregon. It was in force for 2 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
May 31, 1997, 11:45 AM PDT (18:45 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1997, 1:45 PM PDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Pendleton, OR
Area
Whole counties

County Morrow County, OR

The radar

The Pendleton radar (KPDT), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:30 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

Salem/Mcnary, OR (KSLE), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 273 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, Salem/Mcnary, OR at 12:00Z on 1997-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 295 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, Salem/Mcnary, OR at 12:00Z on 1997-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 65 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
295 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
635 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KPDT 311843
FFWPDT
ORC049-312045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
1145 AM PDT SAT MAY 31 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PENDLETON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 PM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST OREGON

   ...CENTRAL MORROW COUNTY

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE PRODUCED HEAVY RAINFALL TO ALMOST AN INCH IN A
ONE HOUR PERIOD. THE STORM IS CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH THE HEPPNER AREA
AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

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.

CLOUTIER

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 31, 8:31 AM PDT, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 8:31 AM PDT, 3 hours 14 minutes before
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
830 AM PDT SAT MAY 31 1997

OBSERVATION OF DVLPG TCU TO W OF KPDT INDCTS SLGT ROTATION
IN LYR ABV LCL.  TOPS OF TCU ARE BEING SHEARED OFF.  CROOK COUNTY
SPOTTER RPRT JUST RCVD OF FLASH FLOODING IN PROGRESS.
LITTLE TIME TO REVIEW NEW 12Z MDLS.  BUSY CORD WITH PDX/SEA AND
CALLING IN EXTRA STAFF IN ANTICIPATION OF STG TSTMS TDA.
NXT SCHEDULED ISSUANCEv OF AFD AT 230 PM.   POLAN

PDT 6311  ALW 6311  PSC 6211  YKM 6211

.KPDT...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 10:20 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUnion40 min
May 31, 12:27 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTCrook, Deschutes, Jefferson63 min
May 31, 12:55 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTWasco65 min
May 31, 1:35 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTGilliam, Sherman55 min
May 31, 2:26 AM PDTFlash Flood WarningPDTMorrow64 min
May 31, 2:26 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTMorrow64 min
May 31, 3:05 AM PDTFlash Flood WarningPDTUmatilla85 min
May 31, 3:05 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUmatilla85 min
May 31, 8:41 AM PDTFlash Flood WarningPDTCrook, Jefferson2 hr
May 31, 9:10 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTGilliam, Sherman, Wasco65 min
May 31, 9:10 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTJefferson65 min
May 31, 9:25 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTGilliam, Morrow65 min
May 31, 9:25 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTSherman65 min
May 31, 9:39 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTCrook, Deschutes, Jefferson66 min
May 31, 10:28 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTMorrow, Umatilla62 min
May 31, 10:55 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTCrook65 min
May 31, 10:58 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTMorrow62 min
May 31, 11:25 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTMorrow, Umatilla65 min
May 31, 12:25 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUmatilla50 min
May 31, 1:05 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUnion55 min
May 31, 1:06 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUnion54 min
May 31, 1:10 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUnion50 min
May 31, 1:15 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUmatilla60 min
May 31, 1:25 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningPDTUmatilla2 hr
May 31, 2:29 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTWallowa61 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.