Alert archive / Arizona / Flash Flood Warnings in 2012

Flash Flood Warning 40, NWS Flagstaff, AZ

September 4, 2012Yavapai County, Arizona

NWS Flagstaff, AZ issued this flash flood warning at Sep 4, 2012, 1:30 PM MST for Yavapai 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 4, 2012, 1:30 PM MST (20:30 UTC)
Expired
Sep 4, 2012, 3:30 PM MST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Flagstaff, AZ
Area
Storm-based polygon
Flood severity
None

County Yavapai County, AZ

The radar

The Flagstaff radar (KFSX), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:31 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

Phoenix, AZ (KPSR), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 95 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, Phoenix, AZ at 12:00Z on 2012-09-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 463 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Phoenix, AZ at 12:00Z on 2012-09-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 36 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
463 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-224 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1399 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 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.

718 
WGUS55 KFGZ 042030
FFWFGZ
AZC025-042230-
/O.NEW.KFGZ.FF.W.0040.120904T2030Z-120904T2230Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
130 PM MST TUE SEP 4 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FLAGSTAFF HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTH CENTRAL YAVAPAI COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ARIZONA...

* UNTIL 330 PM MST

* AT 122 PM MST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THAT HEAVY RAIN HAS SHIFTED JUST SOUTH OF THE GLADIATOR BURN 
  AREA NEAR CROWN KING. HOWEVER...AUTOMATED RAIN GAGES INDICATED
  RAINFALL AMOUNTS AROUND 2 INCHES OVER THE SOUTHERN END OF THE 
  GLADIATOR BURN AREA WHICH WILL LIKELY CONTINUE TO CAUSE FLASH 
  FLOODING.   

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

THE HEAVY RAIN WILL LIKELY TRIGGER LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS...AS
WELL AS MUDSLIDES...ROCKSLIDES...AND DEBRIS FLOWS WITHIN AND
DOWNSTREAM OF THE GLADIATOR FIRE BURN AREA. ROADWAYS IN THE AREA WILL
LIKELY BE INUNDATED AND WASHED OUT. STREAMS IN THE AREA WILL FLOW FAR
ABOVE TYPICAL LEVELS AND WILL CARRY HEAVY AMOUNTS OF SEDIMENT.

AREAS IMPACTED BY THIS WARNING INCLUDE THE GLADIATOR FIRE BURN
AREA...THE COMMUNITY OF CROWN KING...CROWN KING ROAD...SENATOR
HIGHWAY...AND POTENTIALLY SECTIONS OF WAGONER ROAD.

MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO
AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. FLOOD WATERS ARE USUALLY
DEEPER THAN THEY APPEAR. JUST ONE FOOT OF FLOWING WATER IS POWERFUL
ENOUGH TO SWEEP VEHICLES OFF THE ROAD. WHEN ENCOUNTERING FLOODED
ROADS MAKE THE SMART CHOICE...TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN.

&&

LAT...LON 3430 11240 3425 11215 3415 11217 3420 11241

$$
JJ
1 follow-up statement
870 
WGUS75 KFGZ 042228
FFSFGZ

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
328 PM MST TUE SEP 4 2012

AZC025-042237-
/O.EXP.KFGZ.FF.W.0040.000000T0000Z-120904T2230Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
YAVAPAI AZ-
328 PM MST TUE SEP 4 2012

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT 330 PM MST FOR SOUTH
CENTRAL YAVAPAI COUNTY...

HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED OVER THE GLADIATOR BURN AREA NEAR
CROWN KING AND FLOODING CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE TO 
IMPROVE. MINOR FLOODING AND ROAD WASHOUTS WERE REPORTED
IN THE AREA EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON.

LAT...LON 3430 11240 3425 11215 3415 11217 3420 11241

$$
JJ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 4, 11:43 AM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZYavapai107 min
Sep 4, 1:13 PM MSTAreal Flood AdvisoryFGZYavapai3 hr
Sep 4, 1:18 PM MSTFlash Flood WarningFGZGila117 min
Sep 4, 2:18 PM MSTAreal Flood AdvisoryFGZCoconino, Yavapai117 min
Sep 4, 2:25 PM MSTSpecial Weather StatementFGZ35 min
Sep 4, 2:51 PM MSTAreal Flood AdvisoryFGZGila114 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Arizona, 2012Every flash flood warning in 2012

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.