Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 41, NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA

February 7, 19984 counties in California

NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA issued this flash flood warning at Feb 7, 1998, 12:05 PM PST for 4 counties in California. It was in force for 8 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
Feb 7, 1998, 12:05 PM PST (20:05 UTC)
Expired
Feb 7, 1998, 8:00 PM PST
In force
8 hr
Issued by
NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Alameda County, CA, San Mateo County, CA, Santa Clara County, CA, Santa Cruz County, CA

The radar

The San Francisco radar (KMUX), 22 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:09 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

Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 47 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 12:00Z on 1998-02-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 139 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Oakland, CA at 12:00Z on 1998-02-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 174 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
139 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
532 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
268 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSFO 072011
FFWSFO
CAC001-013-075-081-085-087-080400-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO CA
1205 PM PST SAT FEB 7 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SAN FRANCISCO HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM PST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONSS...
 
IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
 
   ...ALAMEDA COUNTY...CONTRA COSTA COUNTY...SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY
   ...SAN MATEO COUNTY...SANTA CLARA COUNTY...SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
 
HEAVY RAINFALL OVER THE PAST TWO HOURS HAS CAUSED STREAMS IN THE AREA TO
RISE RAPIDLY. RAINFALL RATES ARE BETWEEN THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH TO 1
1/4 INCH IN THE LAST HOUR. MORE HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE
MOVING ONSHORE. THESE SHOWERS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION DURING EARLY
AFTERNOON HOURS. THE HEAVY RAINS WILL DECREASE LATER THIS AFTERNOON.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS 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.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

The office that day

Everything else NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 6, 9:15 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRSan Mateo3 hr
Feb 6, 9:15 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRSonoma3 hr
Feb 7, 8:30 AM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRAmador6 hr
Feb 7, 8:30 AM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRRiverside6 hr
Feb 7, 12:05 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRContra Costa8 hr
Feb 7, 12:05 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRCity and County of San Francisco8 hr
Feb 7, 12:24 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRMonterey, San Benito8 hr
Feb 7, 1:25 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRNapa, Sonoma7 hr
Feb 7, 1:25 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRMarin7 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in California, 1998Every flash flood warning in 1998

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.