Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 22, NWS Phoenix, AZ

September 26, 1997Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 26, 1997, 3:52 AM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. 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 26, 1997, 3:52 AM MST (10:52 UTC)
Expired
Sep 26, 1997, 6:45 AM MST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Maricopa County, AZ

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:52 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

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 198 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, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1997-09-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 39 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, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1997-09-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 53 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
39 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-59 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1934 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
45 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 KPHX 261100
FFWPHX
AZC013-261345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
352 AM MST FRI SEP 26 1997

*  FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR
   NORTHWESTERN MARICOPA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 645 AM MST

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
   WICKENBURG AND AGUILA
   STATE ROUTE 71 AND US HIGHWAY 60 IN NORTHERN MARICOPA COUNTY
 
*  AT 345 AM  MST RADAR ESTIMATED RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2
INCHES DURING THE PAST 2 TO 3 HOURS IN NORTHWEST MARICOPA COUNTY.
AS A RESULT...FLASH FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IMMINENT
IN THE WARNING LOCATIONS.

AT 330 AM A SPOTTER IN WICKENBURG REPORTED WASHES RUNNING ALONG
WITH 2 INCHES OF RAINFALL SINCE THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
 
RESIDENTS OF WICKENBURG SHOULD USE CAUTION IF TRAVEL IS
NECESSARY EARLY THIS MORNING...AS SOME SECONDARY ROADS AND LOW-
LYING AREAS MAY BE COVERED BY FLOODWATERS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 25, 5:59 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRLa Paz61 min
Sep 25, 7:08 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRLa Paz, Maricopa112 min
Sep 26, 6:40 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa80 min
Sep 26, 8:00 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 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.