Alert archive / Utah / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS Salt Lake City, UT

July 22, 1998Garfield County, Utah

NWS Salt Lake City, UT issued this flash flood warning at Jul 22, 1998, 2:35 PM MDT for Garfield County, Utah. It was in force for 55 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued: Jul 22, 1998, 2:35 PM MDT (20:35 UTC)
Expired: Jul 22, 1998, 3:30 PM MDT
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS Salt Lake City, UT
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Garfield County, UT

The radar

The Cedar City radar (KICX), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:36 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

Flgstf/Belemont, AZ (KFGZ), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 268 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 275 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 796 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 67 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 KSLC 222035
FFWSLC
UTC017-222135-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
235 PM MDT WED JUL 22 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SALT LAKE CITY HAS ISSUED A

   * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
     SOUTH CENTRAL GARFIELD COUNTY IN UTAH

   * UNTIL 330 PM MDT

   * AT 218 PM MDT WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY
     RAIN OVER SOUTH CENTRAL GARFIELD COUNTY...OR ABOUT 14 MILES
     SOUTHWEST OF ESCALANTE...STATIONARY.

STATIONARY THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN HENRIEVILLE AND ESCALANTE WILL 
CAUSE FLOODING OF THE SMALL STREAMS IN THE AREAS.  

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...COUNTRY ROADS...NORMALLY DRY WASHES AND
ARROYOS...AS WELL AS FARMLAND ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.

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.

TO REPORT FLASH FLOODING HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN IN SALT LAKE
CITY. STAY TUNED TO LOCAL TELEVISION...RADIO...CABLE TV...OR NOAA
WEATHER RADIO FOR UPDATES.

LAT...LON 3755 11179 3759 11152 3776 11152 3773 11182

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

Local storm report, Jul 22, 9:26 AM MDT, 5 hours 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  SALT LAKE CITY UT
926 AM MDT WED JUL 22 1998

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0409 PM    ENTERPRISE                UT   0.75 INCH HAIL
07/21/98   WASHINGTON

0430 PM    ZION NATIONAL PARK        UT   FLASH FLOOD
07/21/98   WASHINGTON                     MUD AND DEBRIS FLOWED
                                          INTO WASHMAN
                                          CAMPGROUND...A FEW TENTS
                                          AND PERSONAL BELONGINGS
                                          WERE DAMAGED...DEBRIS
                                          COVERED ROAD ON EAST SIDE
                                          OF PARK CLOSING ROAD FOR
                                          4 HOURS

0430 PM    ZION NATIONAL PARK        UT   WIND DAMAGE
07/21/98   WASHINGTON                     STRONG WINDS UPROOTED A
                                          LARGE COTTONWOOD TREE IN
                                          EMPLOYEE HOUSING AREA

END

Local storm report, Jul 22, 10:20 AM MDT, 4 hours 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  SALT LAKE CITY UT
1020 AM MDT WED JUL 22 1998

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0409 PM    ENTERPRISE                UT   0.75 INCH HAIL
07/21/98   WASHINGTON

0430 PM    ZION NATIONAL PARK        UT   FLASH FLOOD
07/21/98   WASHINGTON                     MUD AND DEBRIS FLOWED
                                          INTO WATCHMAN
                                          CAMPGROUND...A FEW TENTS
                                          AND PERSONAL BELONGINGS
                                          WERE DAMAGED...DEBRIS
                                          COVERED ROAD ON EAST SIDE
                                          OF PARK CLOSING ROAD FOR
                                          4 HOURS

0430 PM    ZION NATIONAL PARK        UT   WIND DAMAGE
07/21/98   WASHINGTON                     STRONG WINDS UPROOTED A
                                          LARGE COTTONWOOD TREE IN
                                          EMPLOYEE HOUSING AREA

END

Local storm report, Jul 22, 10:20 AM MDT, 4 hours 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  SALT LAKE CITY UT
1020 AM MDT WED JUL 22 1998

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0409 PM    ENTERPRISE                UT   0.75 INCH HAIL
07/21/98   WASHINGTON

0430 PM    ZION NATIONAL PARK        UT   FLASH FLOOD
07/21/98   WASHINGTON                     MUD AND DEBRIS FLOWED
                                          INTO WATCHMAN
                                          CAMPGROUND...A FEW TENTS
                                          AND PERSONAL BELONGINGS
                                          WERE DAMAGED...DEBRIS
                                          COVERED ROAD ON EAST SIDE
                                          OF PARK CLOSING ROAD FOR
                                          4 HOURS

0430 PM    ZION NATIONAL PARK        UT   WIND DAMAGE
07/21/98   WASHINGTON                     STRONG WINDS UPROOTED A
                                          LARGE COTTONWOOD TREE IN
                                          EMPLOYEE HOUSING AREA

END

The office that day

Everything else NWS Salt Lake City, UT issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 21, 6:33 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SLC	Washington	42 min
Jul 22, 3:30 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	SLC	Wayne	2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Utah, 1998 Every 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.