Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 14, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 3, 1997, 4:41 PM PDT for Riverside County, California. It was in force for 94 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
- Sep 3, 1997, 4:41 PM PDT (23:41 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 3, 1997, 6:15 PM PDT
- In force
- 94 min
- Issued by
- NWS Phoenix, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
County Riverside County, CA
The radar
The San Diego radar (KNKX), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:42 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
San Diego, CA (KNKX), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 154 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -481 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1731 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 6 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 65 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KPHX 032342 FFWPHX CAC065-040115- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 441 PM MST (441 PM PDT) WED SEP 3 1997 * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR NORTH CENTRAL RIVERSIDE COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA * UNTIL 615 PM PDT (615 PM MST) * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL MONUMENT * AT 430 PM MST RADAR ESTIMATED RAINFALLS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES HAVE OCCURRED DURING THE PAST HOUR OVER THE SMOKE TREE WASH IN THE NORTH-CENTRAL PORTION OF JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL MONUMENT. AS A RESULT...FLASH FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IMMINENT IN THE WARNING LOCATIONS. SMOKE TREE WASH AND OTHER NEARBY WASHES WILL BE RUNNING...AND PINTO BASIN ROAD MAY BECOME IMPASSABLE.
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, Sep 3, 1:32 PM PDT, 3 hours 9 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-040130- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 245 PM MST/PDT WED SEP 3 1997 ...A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWESTERN ARIZONA AND SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA THROUGH THIS EVENING... THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWESTERN ARIZONA AND SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA. THIS INCLUDES THE COUNTIES OF YUMA...LA PAZ...WESTERN MARICOPA...EASTERN RIVERSIDE AND IMPERIAL. THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE THE PHOENIX METROPOLITAN AREA. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS...WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS LOCATED WEST OF THE PHOENIX METROPOLITAN AREA. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING...ALTHOUGH THEY CAN ALSO PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. PERSONS IN SOUTHWEST ARIZONA AND SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS. MOTORISTS...ESPECIALLY THOSE ON INTERSTATES 8 AND 10...SHOULD BE ALERT FOR HEAVY RAIN AND BLOWING DUST THAT CAN PRODUCE DANGEROUSLY LOW VISIBILITIES. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER EASTERN MARICOPA COUNTY...INCLUDING THE PHOENIX METRO AREA...AND SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY. HOWEVER...THESE STORMS SHOULD NOT BE AS STRONG...AND WILL LIKELY PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS BELOW 50 MPH...AS WELL AS BRIEF HEAVY RAIN. ..................................................................... FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS OUTLOOK...SEVERE WEATHER REFERS TO ANY OF THE FOLLOWING...DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH...HAIL 3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER OR LARGER...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WHICH RESULTS IN RUNNING WASHES OR FLOODING. THE OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN ARIZONA IN CALIFORNIA MARICOPA YUMA IMPERIAL NORTHWEST PINAL LA PAZ CENTRAL AND EASTERN RIVERSIDE SOUTHERN GILA BRECKENRIDGE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2, 6:25 PM PDT | Flash Flood Warning | PSR | Riverside | 60 min |
| Sep 2, 6:25 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Riverside | 60 min |
| Sep 2, 7:22 PM PDT | Flash Flood Warning | PSR | Riverside | 58 min |
| Sep 2, 7:22 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PSR | Riverside | 58 min |
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.