California, 1997

Flash Flood in California, January 1, 1997

January 1, 1997 · NWS MTR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Rainfall rates were 1/2 inch per hour the last two hours and 88D radar was showing a series of banded rain that was intensifying as it moved onshore. The ground is saturated and smaller rivers, streams, and creeks are very near bankfull.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS MTR wrote it up.

Rainfall rates were 1/2 inch per hour the last two hours and 88D radar was showing a series of banded rain that was intensifying as it moved onshore. The ground is saturated and smaller rivers, streams, and creeks are very near bankfull.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

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Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Napa

When
January 1, 2:42 AM PST to 8:45 AM PST
Where
Napa County, Countywide
Coordinates
38.507, -122.330 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Yountville 5 WSW precipitation gage showing rainfall of one inch in one hour. ANGWIN reported rainfall amounts of one inch in one hour. Redwook Creek at Mount Veeder reached warning stage at 0813 PST. Napa Creek at Napa Highway 29 rose above warning stage at 0815 PST and a few hours later rose above flood stage. Napa River at St. Helena rose above flood stage at 0230 PST. Average streamflow on the Napa River near Napa rose above 12000 cfs at 0230 PST.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 1997

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5623751.