Alert archive / Utah / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 7, NWS Salt Lake City, UT

July 22, 1998Wayne County, Utah

NWS Salt Lake City, UT issued this flash flood warning at Jul 22, 1998, 3:30 PM MDT for Wayne County, Utah. 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 outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued
Jul 22, 1998, 3:30 PM MDT (21:30 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1998, 5:30 PM MDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Salt Lake City, UT
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Wayne County, UT

The radar

The Cedar City radar (KICX), 171 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:29 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

Grand Junction, CO (KGJT), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 247 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, Grand Junction, CO at 12:00Z on 1998-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 11 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, Grand Junction, CO at 12:00Z on 1998-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -4 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
11 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-337 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1916 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
70 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 222132 COR
FFWSLC
UTC055-222330-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SALT LAKE CITY HAS ISSUED A

   * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
     WAYNE COUNTY IN UTAH
     INCLUDING CAPITOL REEF NP

   * UNTIL 530 PM MDT

   * AT 326 PM MDT WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY      
     HEAVY RAIN OVER WESTERN WAYNE COUNTY.   

THE FREMONT RIVER IN WAYNE COUNTY WAS BEGINNING TO RISE DUE TO 
RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINS IN THE AREA.  IN ADDITION...SULPHUR CREEK IN 
CAPITOL REEF NP...WHICH NORMALLY IS DRY...WAS BEGIN TO FILL WITH 
RUNOFF WATERS.  PERSONS NEAR ANY OF THE WATERWAYS OR NORMALLY DRY 
WASHES IN THE COUNTY SHOULD MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND NOW.  

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
W$EATHER RADIO FOR UPDATES.

LAT...LON 3839 11153 3823 11150 3831 11062 3846 11068

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, 10:20 AM MDT, 5 hours 10 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, 5 hours 10 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 6:33 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSLCWashington42 min
Jul 22, 2:35 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningSLCGarfield55 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Utah, 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.