Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Phoenix, AZ

July 21, 1998Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Jul 21, 1998, 6:05 PM MST for Maricopa 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 21, 1998, 6:05 PM MST (01:05 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 1998, 8:05 PM MST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County Maricopa County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Tuscon, AZ (KTUS), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 198 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, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1998-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.1000850700500300200100-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tuscon, AZ at 00:00Z on 1998-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
6027 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 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 220106
FFWPHX
AZC013-220305-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
605 PM MST TUE JUL 21 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A

*  FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR
   NORTHWESTERN MARICOPA COUNTY IN CENTRAL ARIZONA

*  UNTIL 805 PM MST

*  AT 6 PM MST DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2
   INCHES DURING THE PAST HOUR IN FAR NORTHWEST MARICOPA COUNTY.
   ALMOST 1.5 INCHES OF RAIN FELL IN A GAUGE IN SOLS WASH SINCE
   5 PM AS WELL. AS A RESULT... FLASH FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR
   IMMINENT IN THE WARNING LOCATIONS.

*  SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE
   WICKENBURG
   AGUILA
   SOLS WASH

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 21, 2:36 PM MST, 3 hours 29 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
236 PM MST TUE JUL 21 1998

AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-221200-
MARICOPA-SOUTHERN GILA-NORTHWEST PINAL-YUMA-LA PAZ-IMPERIAL-
CENTRAL/EASTERN RIVERSIDE-JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK-

...THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER IN MARICOPA COUNTY
AND SOUTHERN GILA...NORTHWEST PINAL AND SOUTHERN YUMA COUNTIES THIS
LATE AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA FROM THE
EAST AND SOUTHEAST LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. HEAVY RAIN AND
FLASH FLOODING WILL BE THE MAIN THREATS IN MARICOPA...NORTHWEST PINAL
AND SOUTHERN GILA COUNTIES. HEAVY RAIN MAY FALL IN SOUTHERN YUMA
COUNTY AS WELL...BUT THE THREAT OF FLASH FLOODING WILL BE LESS.

IN ADDITION...THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE STRONG...GUSTY WIND AND HAIL
...WITH AREAS OF BLOWING DUST POSSIBLE ON THE DESERTS.
*********************************************************************

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.

WILT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 22, 9:14 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRPinal3 hr
Jul 22, 10:58 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRPinal3 hr
Jul 22, 2:27 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPSRLa Paz48 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.