California, 1997

Flash Flood in California, September 3, 1997

September 3, 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

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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.

The radar

The San Diego radar (KNKX), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:05 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Riverside

When
September 3, 5:00 PM MST to 6:15 PM MST
Where
Riverside County, 11 mi NNW of Chiriaco Summit
Coordinates
33.744, -115.994 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Radar estimates of between 4 and 5 inches of rain fell with re-generating thunderstorms in Joshua Tree National Park. This rainfall flooded sections of Pinto Basin Road north of the Cottonwood entrance of the park. Thus, sections of the Pinto Basin Road were closed.

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, 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: 5623662.