Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 11, NWS Phoenix, AZ

July 31, 1998Gila County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 31, 1998, 12:30 PM MST for Gila County, Arizona. It was in force for 2 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
Jul 31, 1998, 12:30 PM MST (19:30 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 1998, 2:30 PM MST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Gila County, AZ

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:33 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

Phoenix, AZ (KPHX), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 115 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, Phoenix, AZ at 12:00Z on 1998-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 493 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Phoenix, AZ at 12:00Z on 1998-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 43 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
493 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-209 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1757 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
19 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 311932
FFWPHX
AZC007-312035-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
1230 PM MST FRI JUL 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A

*  FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR
   SOUTH-CENTRAL GILA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 230 PM MST
 
*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE
   GLOBE...MIAMI...CLAYPOOL

AT 1220 PM...DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED ANOTHER AREA OF MODERATE TO
HEAVY RAIN MOVING INTO THE GLOBE-MIAMA AREA. CONSIDERABLE FLOODING
HAS OCCURRED IN THE GLOBE AREA...AND MORE FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE.

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 31, 12:20 PM MST, 10 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
1220 PM MST FRI JUL 31 1998

AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-011200-
MARICOPA-SOUTHERN GILA-NORTHWEST PINAL-YUMA-LA PAZ-IMPERIAL-
CENTRAL/EASTERN RIVERSIDE-JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK-

...THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER IN SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...
...THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER IN NORTHEAST
MARICOPA AND NORTH-CENTRAL PINAL COUNTIES THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING...

HEAVY RAINFALL...WHICH COULD RESULT IN LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING OR
FLOODING...IS THE GREATEST HAZARD.  RAINFALLS IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES
PER HOUR ARE POSSIBLE. STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL...AND INTENSE CLOUD-
TO-GROUND LIGHTNING CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED WITH THE MOST INTENSE
STORMS. INDIVIDUAL STORMS WILL MOVE SLOWLY TOWARD THE NORTHEAST.
*********************************************************************

HAZARDOUS WEATHER REFERS TO ANY OF THE FOLLOWING...

1)   LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL RESULTING IN FLASH FLOODING OR FLOODING
2)   SAND OR DUST STORM REDUCING VISIBILITY TO 1/4 MILE OR LESS
3)   DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH
4)   HAIL 3/4 INCH OR LARGER IN DIAMETER

CHECK THE PHOENIX STATE FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR MORE INFORMATION.

DG
Special weather statement, Jul 31, 12:20 PM MST, 10 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
1220 PM MST FRI JUL 31 1998

AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-011200-
MARICOPA-SOUTHERN GILA-NORTHWEST PINAL-YUMA-LA PAZ-IMPERIAL-
CENTRAL/EASTERN RIVERSIDE-JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK-

...THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER IN SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...
...THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER IN NORTHEAST
MARICOPA AND NORTH-CENTRAL PINAL COUNTIES THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING...

HEAVY RAINFALL...WHICH COULD RESULT IN LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING OR
FLOODING...IS THE GREATEST HAZARD.  RAINFALLS IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES
PER HOUR ARE POSSIBLE. STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL...AND INTENSE CLOUD-
TO-GROUND LIGHTNING CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED WITH THE MOST INTENSE
STORMS. INDIVIDUAL STORMS WILL MOVE SLOWLY TOWARD THE NORTHEAST.
*********************************************************************

HAZARDOUS WEATHER REFERS TO ANY OF THE FOLLOWING...

1)   LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL RESULTING IN FLASH FLOODING OR FLOODING
2)   SAND OR DUST STORM REDUCING VISIBILITY TO 1/4 MILE OR LESS
3)   DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH
4)   HAIL 3/4 INCH OR LARGER IN DIAMETER

CHECK THE PHOENIX STATE FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR MORE INFORMATION.

DG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 31, 11:11 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRGila79 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 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.