Flash Flood in California, September 2, 1997

Name: Flash Flood in California, September 2, 1997
Start: 1997-09-02T18:35
End: 1997-09-02T20:20
Location: California

September 2, 1997 · NWS PSR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Riverside

When: September 2, 6:35 PM MST to 8:20 PM MST
Where: Riverside County, Desert Center
Coordinates: 33.744, -115.994 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Slow-moving thunderstorms produced torrential rain near Desert Center. Sheriff's officers reported that parts of Kaiser Road just north of Desert Center were flooded. Sections of Kaiser Road and other roads in the area were washed out. Although there were no rainfall reports, radar data estimated a storm total of nearly four inches.

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

Every storm in California in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in California, September 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: 5623661.