Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 45, NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA

February 7, 1998Napa County, Sonoma County, California

NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA issued this flash flood warning at Feb 7, 1998, 1:25 PM PST for Napa County, Sonoma County, California. It was in force for 7 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, 1:25 PM PST (21:25 UTC)
Expired
Feb 7, 1998, 8:00 PM PST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Napa County, CA, Sonoma County, CA

The radar

The Sacramento radar (KDAX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:24 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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 95 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 072126
FFWSFO
CAC041-097-055-080400-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO CA
125 PM PST SAT FEB 7 1998
 
...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SAN FRANCISCO HAS EXTENDED
THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR SONOMA...MARIN AND NAPA COUNTIES UNTIL
8 PM THIS EVENING...
  
THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR SONOMA...MARIN AND NAPA COUNTIES HAS BEEN
EXTENDED UNTIL 8 PM THIS EVENING. VERY HEAVY RAIN THIS MORNING AND
EARLY AFTERNOON HAS CAUSED WIDESPREAD FLOODING IN THE WARNING AREA.
THE PETALUMA RIVER IN SONOMA COUNTY IS FLOODING AND IS EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE WELL OUT OF ITS BANKS INTO EARLY EVENING. SEVERAL ROADS IN THE
AREA ARE UNDER WATER AND CLOSED TO TRAFFIC. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL
REPORTS OF MUDSLIDES IN THE WARNING AREA. 

ALTHOUGH RAINFALL RATES HAVE DROPPED OFF QUICKLY IN THE PAST
HOUR...HEAVY RUNOFF WILL CONTINUE AND SMALL RIVERS AND STREAMS WILL
CONTINUE OUT OF THEIR BANKS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. BRIEF HEAVY
RAIN IS POSSIBLE THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING IN SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS. THE POSSIBILITY OF MUDSLIDES WILL CONTINUE WELL AFTER
THE RAINFALL HAS ENDED.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
 
DYKEMA

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 WarningMTRAlameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz8 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 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.