Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 18, NWS Phoenix, AZ
NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 24, 1997, 6:45 PM PDT for Imperial 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
- Sep 24, 1997, 6:45 PM PDT (01:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 24, 1997, 9:30 PM PDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Phoenix, AZ
- Area
- Whole counties
County Imperial County, CA
The radar
The Yuma radar (KYUX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:45 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 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 173 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
- 1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2069 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 90 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 141 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KPHX 250146 FFWPHX CAC025-250430- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 645 PM MST (645 PM PDT) WED SEP 24 1997 * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL IMPERIAL COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA * UNTIL 930 PM PDT * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED SEELEY HEBER CALEXICO EL CENTRO HOLTVILLE BRAWLEY * AS OF 640 PM PDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS RECEIVED MULTIPLE REPORTS OF FLOODING IN THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE IMPERIAL VALLEY. 16 POWER POLES WERE WASHED OUT IN SEELEY... AND SOME HOMES WERE FLOODED IN AND AROUND SEELEY AND HEBER. SOME ROADS AROUND EL CENTRO...SEELEY...AND HEBER WERE FLOODED AND CLOSED AT THIS TIME. THE CALIFORNIA OES IS CONSIDERING EVACUATING SOME RESIDENTS AROUND SEELEY. THIS FLOODING IS ALSO EXPECTED TO AFFECT OTHER COMMUNITIES LISTED ABOVE THROUGH 930 PM. ADDITIONALLY YUMA DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A LARGE BAND OF MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN MOVING TOWARDS THE WARNING AREA. THIS BAND IS ANTICIPATED TO REACH THE AREA BY 9 PM. THIS FLASH FLOOD WARNING SUPERCEDES THE URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT. KOCH
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 24, 3:22 PM PDT, 3 hours 23 minutes before
AZZ020>025-CAZ030>033-250600- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 320 PM MST/PDT WED SEP 24 1997 ...HURRICANE NORA EXPECTED TO BRING HEAVY RAINS TO PARTS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES... AT 2 PM MST/PDT...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE NORA WAS LOCATED NEAR 24.7 DEGREES NORTH LATITUDE AND 114.9 DEGREES WEST LONGITUDE OR ABOUT 210 MILES SOUTH OF PUNTA EUGENIA ON THE WEST COAST OF BAJA CALIFORNIA. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS WERE NEAR 85 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. NORA WAS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH AT 13 MPH...AND IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ON ITS NORTHWARD TRACK TOWARD SOUTHWESTERN ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. NORA IS FORECAST TO MAKE LANDFALL THURSDAY MORNING NEAR EL ROSARIO... NORTHERN BAJA CALIFORNIA OR ABOUT 200 MILES SOUTH OF YUMA ARIZONA. AS NORA MAKES LANDFALL...IT WILL WEAKEN TO A TROPICAL STORM AND MOVE NORTH INTO THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES BETWEEN YUMA ARIZONA AND EL CENTRO CALIFORNIA BY THURSDAY NIGHT. THE MAIN THREAT FROM NORA WILL BE HEAVY RAINFALL AND POSSIBLE FLOODING. AS A RESULT...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN POSTED FOR MUCH OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL ARIZONA AS WELL AS FAR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FOR THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. AT THIS TIME...RAINFALL ESTIMATES FOR A 24 HOUR PERIOD FROM THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING RANGE FROM 1 TO 4 INCHES. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OF UP TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN ARE POSSIBLE CLOSER TO THE CENTER OF NORA IN FAR SOUTHWEST ARIZONA AND FAR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH NORA WILL START TO AFFECT PARTS OF FAR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. A HIGH WIND WATCH HAS BEEN POSTED FOR THAT AREA...WHERE WINDS OF 35 TO 45 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. STAY UP-TO-DATE ON THE LATEST STATEMENTS ABOUT HURRICANE NORA FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. PLEASE REFER TO RELEASES FROM THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER IN MIAMI FLORIDA FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON NORA.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25, 11:02 AM PDT | Flash Flood Warning | PSR | Imperial | 3 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.