Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 2001

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Medford, OR

July 14, 2001Siskiyou County, California

NWS Medford, OR issued this flash flood warning at Jul 14, 2001, 4:27 PM PDT for Siskiyou County, California. It was in force for 3 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 14, 2001, 4:27 PM PDT (23:27 UTC)
Expired
Jul 14, 2001, 7:30 PM PDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Medford, OR
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Siskiyou County, CA

The radar

The Medford radar (KMAX), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:31 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

Medford/Jackson, OR (KMFR), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 112 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, Medford/Jackson, OR at 12:00Z on 2001-07-14Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Medford/Jackson, OR at 12:00Z on 2001-07-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1278 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 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 
WGUS56 KMFR 142331
FFWMFR
CAC093-150230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
427 PM PDT SAT JUL 14 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEDFORD HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWESTERN SISKIYOU COUNTY IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

* UNTIL 730 PM PDT

* AT 421 PM PDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
SERIES OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN SISKIYOU COUNTY. 
THESE STORMS HAVE PRODUCED ABOUT AN INCH OF RAIN AND ARE LOCATED 
ABOUT 10 MILES EAST OF SAWYERS BAR.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE RAPID FLOODING OF SMALL 
CREEKS AND STREAMS...COUNTRY ROADS...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.

LAT...LON 4159 12322 4120 12289 4119 12340 4154 12354
$$

BUNNAG

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 Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jul 14, 2:30 PM PDT, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 14, 2:30 PM PDT, 1 hour 57 minutes before
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 PM PDT SAT JUL 14 2001

...A COOLING TREND...

MODELS AGREE THAT JET MAX NOW DIVING SOUTH ALONG BRITISH COLUMBIA
COAST WILL CREATE CLOSED LOW N OF SEATTLE BY MONDAY MORNING. THE
RESULT WILL BE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS OVER THE NORTHERN ZONES AND
TRANSITION TO BELOW NORMAL TEMPS FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE NEW WEEK.

TONIGHT...IMMEDIATE CONCERN WILL BE ISOLD EVENING CONVECTION OVER N
CALIORNIA, SISKIYOU MTNS, AND CASCADES CREST EASTWARD. ALREADY
EXPANDED ISOLD TSRA WEST TO COVER ALL OF SISKIYOU COUNTY GIVEN RAPID
CU DEVELOPMENT ON AFT VIS IMAGERY. DAYTIME HEATING IS BEING
SUPPLEMENTED BY SYOPTIC SCALE LIFT AND WEAK UPPER DIFFLUENCE AS
CLOSED VORT CIRCULATION MOVES ACROSS CENTRAL CA. OTHERWISE EXPECT A M
CLEAR NIGHT WITH WIDESPREAD LOW CLOUDS AND FOG REDEVELOPING OVER COOS
CO AND VCNTY BROOKINGS.

SUNDAY...MODEST QVECTOR H7-H3 DIVERGENCE/SUBSIDENCE AND LACK OF
SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE ON TIME/HEIGHT SECTIONS SUPPORT MOSTLY TO PARTLY
SUNNY SKIES. MORNING LOW CLOUDS AND FOG WILL AGAIN BURN OFF OVER COOS
CO AND VNCTY OF BROOKING. WEAK INSTABILITY AND 325K 700MB THETA-E
CONTOUR SUPPORT SLIGHT CHANCE OF LATE DAY T-STORMS ALTURAS AND LAKE
COUNTIES.

SUNDAY NIGHT...GOOD MARINE PUSH AS MODEST QVECTOR CONVERGENCE AND
BAND OF H85-H7 MOISTURE SWEEP SE ACROSS S OREGON AS JET MAX ROUNDS
BASE OF UPPER TROUGH. WILL MAINTAIN CHANCE OF SHOWERS N OF UMPQUA
DIVIDE AND N CASCADES. WILL ALSO THROW IN CHANCE POPS FOR N ZONE 30
OTHERWISE JUST INCREASING CLOUDS OVER OREGON ZONES.

MONDAY...MID LEVEL MOISTURE AXIS SHIFTS EAST OF CASCADES ALONG WITH
MODERATE H7-H3 QVECTOR CONVERGENCE. CONSEQUENTLY, EXPECT M CLOUDY
SKIES EAST OF CASCADES AND NE CALIFORNIA. PER COORDINATION W/ CA
WFOS WILL INSERT SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHRA/TSRA CAZ082>085. P SUNNY IN
ROGUE BASIN, BUT LOW CLOUDS MAY LAST THRU MOST OF DAY IN THE UMPQUA
BASIN.

EXTENDED...THE PERIOD WILL BEGIN UNSEASONABLY COOL AS A CLOSED LOW
LIFTS NE THRU BRITISH COLUMBIA WITH A LONGWAVE 500MB TROUGH EXTENDING
S ALONG THE W COAST. AS A RESULT, TUE MAY WELL BE THE COOLEST DAY OF
ENTIRE WEEK WITH MAX TEMPS AT LEAST 10-15F BELOW NORMAL. 12Z AVN RUN
DOES SUGGEST SOME WEAK TO MODERATE FORCING OVER THE AREA, BUT H85-H5
MOISTURE APPEARS LIMITED, THUS WE WILL CONTINUE TO CONFINE ANY
SHOWERS TO THE N COAST, UMPQUA BASIN AND N CASCADES (CRATER LAKE).
AFTER TUE THE MRF ENSEMBLES/ECMWF AND CANADIAN ALL LIFT THE LOW NE
INTO CENTRAL CANADA WITH A LINGERING TROF ALONG THE W COAST AND HOT
RIDGE PARKED OVER THE S PLAINS. THE RESULT WILL BE A SLOW RETURN TO
NEAR NORMAL TEMPS BY SAT, JULY 21ST AS A WEAK SFC THERMAL LOW
REESTABLISHES OVER THE GREAT BASIN.

WOLF

.MFR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM FLORENCE OR TO PT ST GEORGE CA.

OTH EE 051/062 049/062 050 140232
4BK EE 050/064 048/064 050 140012
RBG EE 053/077 052/074 049 140022
MFR BE 055/083 053/078 052 140011
LMT BE 044/079 044/074 044 142011
LKV BE 047/076 044/073 043 142112
MHS BE 048/079 048/075 046 141002

The office that day

Everything else NWS Medford, OR issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 13, 7:38 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFRSiskiyou67 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in California, 2001Every flash flood warning in 2001

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.