Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 55, NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA

February 7, 1998City and County of San Francisco, California

NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA issued this flash flood warning at Feb 7, 1998, 11:00 PM PST for City and County of San Francisco, 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
Feb 7, 1998, 11:00 PM PST (07:00 UTC)
Expired
Feb 8, 1998, 2:00 AM PST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Area
Whole counties

County City and County of San Francisco, CA

The radar

The San Francisco radar (KMUX), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:03 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 00:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 22 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 1998-02-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 502 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, Oakland, CA at 00:00Z on 1998-02-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 137 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
502 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
650 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
137 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
167 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSFO 080700
FFWSFO
CAC001-013-041-053-069-075-081-085-087-055-097-081000-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED REQUESTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO CA
1100 PM PST SAT FEB 7 1998
 
 
...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR SANTA CRUZ AND SANTA CLARA COUNTIES HAS
BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 2 AM SUNDAY MORNING...
 
...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAS BEEN ALLOWED TEXPIRE...ALAMEDA...CONTRA COAST...MARIN...MONTEREY...SAN BENITO...SAN
FRANCISCO...SAN MATEO...NAPA AND SONOMA COUNTIES...
 
AT 1045 PM...THE CREEKS AND SMALL STREAMS IN THE BAY AREA AND CENTRAL
COAST COUNTIES REMAIN HIGH...THOUGH STREAMS ARE SLOWLY RECEEDING AND THE
INTENSITY OF THE RAINSHOWERS HAVE DIMINISHED.  RAINFALL RATES ACROSS THE
REGION ARE GENERALLY LESS THAN TWO TENTHS OF AN INCH IN THE LAST THREE
HOURS...EXCEPT FOR A BAND OF HALF INCH AMOUNTS ACROSS THE SANTA CRUZ
MOUNTAINS EXTENDING INTO SANTA CLARA COUNTY.
 
DOPPLER RADAR AND SATELLITE IMAGERY CONTINUE TO SHOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE
REGION WITH MOST OF THE CONCENTRATION BEING IN SANTA CRUZ AND SANTA
CLARA COUNTIES. THE RAINSHOWERS OVER SANTA CRUZ AND SANTA CLARA COUNTIES
ARE TRAINING OVER THE SAME AREAS AND EVEN THOUGH THE SHOWER INTENSITIES
HAVE DIMINISHED...PROLONGED DURATION OF ADDITIONAL SHOWER ACTIVITY HAVE
RESULTED IN THE EXTENSION OF THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR SANTA CRUZ AND
SANTA CLARA COUNTIES THROUGH 2 AM SUNDAY MORNING.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.
THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY.
VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.
 
 
DIAZ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 7, 5:53 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMTRSanta Clara, Santa Cruz37 min
Feb 7, 8:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRNapa, Sonoma3 hr
Feb 7, 8:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRCity and County of San Francisco, San Mateo3 hr
Feb 7, 8:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRMonterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz3 hr
Feb 7, 8:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRAlameda, Santa Clara3 hr
Feb 7, 8:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRContra Costa3 hr
Feb 7, 8:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRMarin3 hr
Feb 7, 11:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRAlameda, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz3 hr
Feb 7, 11:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRNapa, Sonoma3 hr
Feb 7, 11:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRMarin3 hr
Feb 7, 11:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRMonterey3 hr
Feb 7, 11:00 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRContra Costa3 hr
Feb 8, 6:55 AM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRSanta Clara8 hr
Feb 8, 1:55 PM PSTFlash Flood WarningMTRSanta Clara4 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.