Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Watches in 2016

Flash Flood Watch 5, NWS Los Angeles, CA

May 6, 2016Santa Barbara County, California

NWS Los Angeles, CA issued this flash flood watch at May 6, 2016, 1:20 AM PDT for Santa Barbara County, California. It took effect at May 6, 2016, 12:00 PM PDT. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 6, 2016, 1:20 AM PDT (08:20 UTC)
In effect from
May 6, 2016, 12:00 PM PDT
Expired
May 6, 2016, 8:00 PM PDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
NWS Los Angeles, CA
Flood severity
None

County Santa Barbara County, CA

The radar

The Vandenberg AFB radar (KVBX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:22 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

Vandenberg AFB, CA (KVBG), launched 00:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 48 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, Vandenberg AFB, CA at 00:00Z on 2016-05-06Temperature 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, Vandenberg AFB, CA at 00:00Z on 2016-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 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
1123 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood watch went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Los Angeles, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood watch went out at May 5, 8:38 PM PDT, 4 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 5, 8:38 PM PDT, 4 hours 42 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, May 5, 6:00 AM PDT, 19 hours 20 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA
600 AM PDT THU MAY 5 2016

CAZ034>041-044>046-051>054-059-087-088-547-548-061300-
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY CENTRAL COAST-
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CENTRAL COAST-SANTA YNEZ VALLEY-
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY INTERIOR VALLEYS-CUYAMA VALLEY-
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY SOUTH COAST-VENTURA COUNTY COAST-
LOS ANGELES COUNTY COAST INCLUDING DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES-
VENTURA COUNTY INTERIOR VALLEYS-VENTURA COUNTY COASTAL VALLEYS-
SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS RECREATIONAL AREA-
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY MOUNTAINS-VENTURA COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
LOS ANGELES COUNTY MOUNTAINS EXCLUDING THE SANTA MONICA RANGE-
ANTELOPE VALLEY-CATALINA ISLAND-SANTA CLARITA VALLEY-
LOS ANGELES COUNTY SAN FERNANDO VALLEY-
LOS ANGELES COUNTY SAN GABRIEL VALLEY-
600 AM PDT THU MAY 5 2016

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA.

.DAY ONE... TODAY

THERE WILL BE A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT ACROSS
THE FORECAST AREA. THIS INCLUDES ALL THE COASTAL WATERS THIS
AFTERNOON, THEN THE SOUTHERN PORTION TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY. MARINERS
NEED TO BE AWARE OF THIS SITUATION. THE BEST CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE ACROSS THE LOS ANGELES, VENTURA AND SANTA BARBARA COUNTY
MOUNTAINS. THERE COULD BE LOCAL FLOODING OF ROADWAYS NEAR
THUNDERSTORMS.

* MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT...SEE FZUS76 KLOX - MWSLOX FOR DETAILS *

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE
ON FRIDAY. BEST CHANCES WILL CONTINUE TO BE IN THE MOUNTAINS. ALSO,
FRIDAY WILL BE THE BEST CHANCE OF SOME LOCAL FLASH FLOODING ACROSS
THE MOUNTAINS AND THE FOOTHILLS OF THE ANTELOPE VALLEY. STORMS WILL
HAVE WEAK STEERING WINDS ON FRIDAY. IF THUNDERSTORMS DO DEVELOP...A
FEW COULD DRIFT INTO THE ADJACENT VALLEYS AND EVEN COASTAL AREAS.

THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO BE LIMITED TO THE
MOUNTAINS AND POSSIBLY THE ANTELOPE VALLEY ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND
EARLY EVENING.

* MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT...SEE FZUS76 KLOX - MWSLOX FOR DETAILS *

KAPLAN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Los Angeles, CA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 5:03 PM PDTSpecial Weather StatementLOX87 min
May 5, 5:27 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningLOXSan Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara3 hr
May 6, 11:38 AM PDTAreal Flood AdvisoryLOXLos Angeles112 min
May 6, 2:26 PM PDTAreal Flood AdvisoryLOXLos Angeles3 hr
May 6, 3:01 PM PDTAreal Flood AdvisoryLOXSanta Barbara, Ventura3 hr
May 6, 3:18 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningLOXSanta Barbara3 hr
May 6, 4:18 PM PDTAreal Flood AdvisoryLOXSan Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara3 hr
May 6, 4:45 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningLOXSan Luis Obispo2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Watches in California, 2016Every flash flood watch in 2016

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.