Flash Flood, Sacramento
- When
- January 22, 2:00 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
- Where
- Sacramento County, Sacramento
- Property damage
- $1.5 million
- Coordinates
- 38.449, -121.344 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in California, January 22, 1997
Localized heavy rain brought Chicken Ranch Slough out of its banks, flooding the Arden-Arcade area of the city. At least 1,000 homes and apartment buildings were flooded.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- $1.5 million
- 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 STO wrote it up.
Localized heavy rain brought Chicken Ranch Slough out of its banks, flooding the Arden-Arcade area of the city. At least 1,000 homes and apartment buildings were flooded.
The radar
The Sacramento radar (KDAX), 30 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:57 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Winter Weather in New York, January 22, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Utah, January 22 to 23, 1997
- Winter Weather in Vermont, January 22, 1997
- Heavy Snow in California, January 22, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, January 22, 1997
- Winter Weather in New York, January 22, 1997
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, January 22, 1997
- Winter Weather in New Jersey, January 22, 1997
- Flash Flooding in California, January 22, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, January 22 to 23, 1997
- Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, January 22, 1997
- Winter Storm in Montana, January 22 to 23, 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: 5590339.