Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 2022

Flash Flood Warning 9, NWS Hanford, CA

August 4, 2022Tulare County, California

NWS Hanford, CA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 4, 2022, 2:17 PM PDT for Tulare 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 counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 4, 2022, 2:17 PM PDT (21:17 UTC)
Expired
Aug 4, 2022, 5:45 PM PDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Hanford, CA
Area
Storm-based polygon
Flood severity
None

County Tulare County, CA

The radar

The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:21 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

Las Vegas, NV (KVEF), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 293 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, Las Vegas, NV at 12:00Z on 2022-08-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 326 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, Las Vegas, NV at 12:00Z on 2022-08-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -22 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
326 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-216 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2768 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-2 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 warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Aug 4, 1:02 PM PDT, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 1:02 PM PDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Hanford CA
102 PM PDT Thu Aug 4 2022

.SYNOPSIS...
The above average heat will subside after today. The monsoon
moisture will be the main story for the next two days as most of the
eastern portion of the forecast area including the Sierra Nevada,
Tehachapi, and the Kern County Desert will have at least a 20%
chance of thunderstorms and rain with the SIerras having over 50%
chance.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Currently, we have a ridge parked over the Four Corners which is
leading to the advection of monsoonal moisture into our forecast
area. This combination of moisture and above average temperatures
will contribute to more thunderstorms today especially in the Kern
County Desert and the Sierras. In addition, the moisture will bring
a near 20% chance of rain overnight on Friday to some of the Valley
locations such as Visalia and Bakersfield. Flash Flooding is
possible in the mountains during this time especially if the
storms produce rain at a rate of 1-2 inch/hour. Flash Flood
warnings may be issued for the mountains if the radar detects
significant rainfall.

On Friday, the ridge will move out of the area with an approaching
trough. The trough will get the temperatures to drop back down to
average and the rain chances will taper off including the Sierra
Friday night. Most locations will have a probability of 50% and
above of temperatures at or below 100 degrees on Friday. The
temperatures will remain at seasonal average into the middle of next
week as the trough begins to trek up north towards Oregon which will
also shut off the monsoon moisture tap. Both the GEFS and
European model ensembles are in good agreement about the trough
off the Pacific coast and have the center of the ridge being over
Colorado and New Mexico.

&&

.AVIATION...
VFR conditions will prevail for the next 24 hours.
The only concern will be thunderstorms which will taper off and be
spotty starting at 05Z but will pick up with an increase of moisture
at 09Z.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
On Thursday August 4 2022... Unhealthy for
Sensitive Groups in Fresno... Kern and Tulare Counties... and
Sequoia National Park and Forest.

&&

.CERTAINTY...

The level of certainty for days 1 and 2 is high.
The level of certainty for days 3 through 7 is medium.

Certainty levels include low...medium...and high. Please visit
www.weather.gov/hnx/certainty.html for additional information
an/or to provide feedback.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.
&&

JPK

weather.gov/hanford

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 3, 5:04 PM PDTAreal Flood AdvisoryHNXFresno116 min
Aug 3, 5:07 PM PDTAreal Flood AdvisoryHNXMadera3 hr
Aug 3, 5:13 PM PDTSpecial Weather StatementHNXMono47 min
Aug 4, 12:39 PM PDTFlash Flood Warning Considerable damage threatHNXTulare59 min
Aug 4, 1:23 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningHNXFresno, Tulare59 min
Aug 4, 1:44 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningHNXKern59 min
Aug 4, 2:08 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningHNXKern112 min
Aug 4, 2:22 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningHNXMariposa, Tuolumne83 min
Aug 4, 2:40 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningHNXKern65 min
Aug 4, 4:05 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningHNXMadera115 min
Aug 4, 4:14 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningHNXFresno106 min
Aug 4, 4:38 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningHNXKern2 hr
Aug 4, 4:40 PM PDTSpecial Weather StatementHNXKern35 min
Aug 4, 4:53 PM PDTSpecial Weather StatementHNXMadera37 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in California, 2022Every flash flood warning in 2022

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.