Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 2000

Flash Flood Warning 19, NWS Phoenix, AZ

October 22, 2000La Paz County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Oct 22, 2000, 6:38 AM MST for La Paz County, Arizona. It was in force for 4 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
Oct 22, 2000, 6:38 AM MST (13:38 UTC)
Expired
Oct 22, 2000, 11:00 AM MST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area
Whole counties

County La Paz County, AZ

The radar

The Yuma radar (KYUX), 151 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:40 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

Yuma Intl Airpor, AZ (KYUM), launched 12:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 133 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, Yuma Intl Airpor, AZ at 12:00Z on 2000-10-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Yuma Intl Airpor, AZ at 12:00Z on 2000-10-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -89 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
1172 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
97 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 
WGUS55 KPSR 221338
FFWPSR
AZC012-221825-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
638 AM MST SUN OCT 22 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... THE TOWN OF WENDEN IN SOUTHEAST
LA PAZ COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ARIZONA...

* UNTIL 1200 PM MST

* AT 630 AM...CENTENNIAL WASH THROUGH THE TOWN OF WENDEN CONTINUES
TO OVERFLOW...SPREADING ABOUT A FOOT OF WATER ACROSS THE SOUTHERN
AND EASTERN PARTS OF TOWN.  HOME EVACUATIONS WERE IN PROGRESS AT
615 AM... WITH MORE RAIN AND FLOODING EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE
MORNING HOURS.

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR THE TOWN OF WENDEN... AND ADJACENT
AREAS NEAR THE CENTENNIAL WASH...IS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON TODAY.

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM HAS STALLED OVER ARIZONA RESULTING IN A
THREAT FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
*

DON'T DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED ROADS! MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN
AUTOMOBILES.

HV

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.

NWS Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Oct 22, 2:45 AM MST, 3 hours 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 22, 2:45 AM MST, 3 hours 53 minutes before
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-221745-

SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
245 AM MST SUN OCT 22 2000

.SYNOPSIS...
A STRONG PACIFIC LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL REMAIN STATIONARY NEAR
YUMA...SPREADING SHOWERS AND OR PERIODS OF RAIN...WITH THUNDERSTORMS
...OVER SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA THROUGH MONDAY. SOME
HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE. THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE
NORTHEAST OUT OF THE AREA EARLY TUESDAY...WITH SHOWERS ENDING.
PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND WARMER WEATHER WILL RETURN WEDNESDAY AND
THURSDAY.

.DISCUSSION...
SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP
OVER A LARGE PART OF SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL AZ AT 09Z. THIS IN
RESPONSE TO A STRONG UPPER LOW THAT HAS TURNED NEGATIVE TILT AND
DIFLUENT OVER THE REGION...WITH DYNAMICS INCREASING THIS MORNING. THE
500 MB LOW CENTER WAS LOCATED ABOUT 100 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF YUMA
AT 09Z.

EQUALLY IMPRESSIVE WAS THE DEEP/EXTENSIVE STRATUS FIELD ALONG THE
ENTIRE WEST COAST OF BAJA...FEEDING INLAND INTO NORTHWEST MEXICO
...AND INTO THE UPPER LOW CIRCULATION. IN OTHER WORDS... BOOKOOO
MOISTURE WILL ADVECT AND CONVERGE OVER A LARGE PART OF SOUTHWEST AND
SOUTH CENTRAL AZ THROUGH MONDAY...CONTINUING THE THREAT FOR HEAVY
RAIN.

BOTH ETA AND AVN MODELS WERE INITIALIZED FAIRLY WELL... AND BOTH
FORECASTS ARE NEARLY IDENTICAL FOR MUCH OF AZ THROUGH MONDAY
AFTERNOON. THEREFORE... PICK A MODEL AND YOU'LL BE DOING OK. MODELS
CONTINUE THE NEGATIVE TILT DIFLUENT ORIENTATION OF THE TROF THROUGH
THIS EVENING (WITH THE H5 LOW CENTER JUST SOUTH OF YUMA)... WITH
CONSIDERABLE DYNAMICS FORECAST OVER MUCH OF SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH
CENTRAL AZ.  THE UPPER LOW BECOMES BAROTROPIC TONIGHT AS ITS CENTER
MOVES INTO SOUTHWEST AZ...WITH SHOWERS BECOMING MORE INSTABILITY
THAN DYNAMICALLY DRIVEN ON MONDAY.

IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST... PERHAPS A FEW LINGERING SHOWERS ARE
POSSIBLE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AZ TUESDAY MORNING... OTHERWISE MORE
STABLE WEATHER DEVELOPS WITH HEIGHT RISES BEHIND THE EASTWARD MOVING
UPPER LOW.

VASQUEZ

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 22, 1:25 AM MST, 5 hours 13 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX, AZ
125 AM MST SUN OCT 22 2000

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

400 PM     YUMA                      AZ   WIND DAMAGE
10/21/00   YUMA                           TREES DOWN POWER OUTAGES

930        WICKENBURG                AZ   FLASH FLOOD
10/21/00   MARICOPA                       WASHES RUNNING AND OVER
                                          BANKS. SOME HOMES FLOODED
                                          AREAS EVACUATED

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 21, 8:21 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa99 min
Oct 21, 11:00 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa60 min
Oct 22, 1:07 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRMaricopa4 hr
Oct 22, 3:01 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningPSRLa Paz3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 2000Every flash flood warning in 2000

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.