Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Sacramento, CA

January 4, 1997Sutter County, California

NWS Sacramento, CA issued this flash flood warning at Jan 4, 1997, 9:50 PM PST for Sutter County, California. It was in force for 5 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
Jan 4, 1997, 9:50 PM PST (05:50 UTC)
Expired
Jan 5, 1997, 2:55 AM PST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Sacramento, CA
Area
Whole counties

County Sutter County, CA

The nearest sounding before it

Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 00:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 152 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, Oakland, CA at 00:00Z on 1997-01-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Oakland, CA at 00:00Z on 1997-01-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 7 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1164 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
55 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 KSAC 050557
FFWSAC
CAC101-041055-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
950 PM PST SAT JAN 4 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SACRAMENTO CA HAS ISSUED A FLASH
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 255 AM PST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
LOCATIONS...

IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

  ...NORTHWEST CENTRAL SUTTER COUNTY



<
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY SUTTER COUNTY OES HAS ISSUED A MANDATORY
EVACUATION ORDER FOR THE MERIDIAN AREA OF WESTERN SUTTER COUNTY. THE
MERIDIAN AREA IS BOUNDED BY THE SACRAMENTO RIVER ON THE WEST...BUTTE
CREEK ON THE NORTH...BUTTE SLOUGH AND SUTTER BYPASS ON THE EAST...
AND MORONI ROAD ON THE SOUTH.

THIS ORDER IS DUE TO A CONFIRMED LEVEE BREECH WHICH HAS OCCURRED IN
THE WEST MCCLATCHY ROAD AREA AND THE RISING WATER LEVEL IN THE AREA
WHICH IS MOVING NORTH TOWARD HIGHWAY 20.

ALL RESIDENTS OF THE AREA ARE ORDERED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES AND
EVACUATE BY PROCEEDING WEST INTO COLUSA COUNTY.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS IMMINENT
IN THESE AREAS.

Randy Hartley

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 Sacramento, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jan 4, 9:05 PM PST, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 4, 9:05 PM PST, 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
900 PM SAT JAN 4 1997

WEAK SYSTEM THAT CAME THROUGH TONIGHT WAS NAUGHT BUT A FEW SPRINKLES
AND VIRGA. MODELS BUILD RIDGING AFTER THIS...SO...FORTUNATELY WEATHER
WILL NOT BE ADDING TO THE ALREADY OVER-WET FLOODING SITUATIONS IN OUR
CWA. ALSO...WITH FREEZING LEVELS EXPECTED TO DROP TO 5000 FEET
TONIGHT IN THE CENTRAL SIERRA AND 4000 FEET SUNDAY...THIS SHOULD HELP
FREEZE-UP SOME OF THE RUN-OFF AND EVENTUALLY ALLEVIATE THE CURRENT
FLOODING PROBLEMS. MOST OF THE SHIFT BUSIED BY KEEPING UP WITH LEVEE
BREAKS AND MANDATORY EVACUATION SCENARIOS. HARTLEY

FLASH FLOOD WARNING WESTERN SUTTER COUNTY...
SMALL STREAM/RIVER FLOOD WARNING FOR NO@RTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...
FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY...

The office that day

Everything else NWS Sacramento, CA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 4, 6:49 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningSTOSutter91 min
Jan 5, 2:01 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningSTOSan Joaquin69 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.