Flash Flood, Alameda
- When
- January 1, 7:18 AM PST to 10:15 AM PST
- Where
- Alameda County, Countywide
- Coordinates
- 37.651, -121.918 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flooding in California, January 1, 1997
Heavy rain was falling across most of Alameda and Contra Costa counties with 88D radar and rain gages showing rates of about one inch per hour over the last hour. Flooding is expected across many of the highways and local streams and creeks are near bankfull.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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.
Heavy rain was falling across most of Alameda and Contra Costa counties with 88D radar and rain gages showing rates of about one inch per hour over the last hour. Flooding is expected across many of the highways and local streams and creeks are near bankfull.
The radar
The San Francisco radar (KMUX), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:20 UTC.
Event by event
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Contra Costa
- When
- January 1, 7:18 AM PST to 10:15 AM PST
- Where
- Contra Costa County, Countywide
- Coordinates
- 37.923, -121.951 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flooding reported by KCBS in the cities of Martinez and Richmond. Spotter report of flooding in the city of Walnut Creek.
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
- Flooding in Nevada, January 1 to 17, 1997
- Flooding in Washington, January 1 to 3, 1997
- Flooding in California, January 1 to 17, 1997
- Storm Surge in California, January 1, 1997
- Flooding and High Wind in Oregon, January 1 to 5, 1997
- Drought in Texas, January 1 to 31, 1997
- Flood in California, January 1 to 3, 1997
- Flash Flood in California, January 1, 1997
- Flooding and High Wind in California, January 1 to 3, 1997
- Flash Flood in California, January 1, 1997
- Flood in Oregon, January 1 to 5, 1997
- Flood in California, January 1 to 2, 1997
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: 5623752, 5623753.