# Flash Flood Warning for Apache County Through 8:15 AM

Apache County, Arizona — The National Weather Service in Flagstaff has put Apache County in northeastern Arizona under a Flash Flood Warning through 8:15 AM Mountain time this morning, after a river gauge picked up a rapid surge on Chine Creek.

**What is happening:** Thunderstorms dropped heavy rain across the warned area overnight, and a gauge on Chine Creek inside Canyon de Chelly National Monument reported the creek shooting above flood stage around 1:20 this morning. Flash flooding is already happening in that drainage. The warning covers Apache County — the far northeastern corner of Arizona — and stays in effect until 8:15 AM Arizona time.

**Local impacts:** The Weather Service calls this life-threatening flash flooding. Chine Creek is the trouble spot, and Chinle Creek near Chinle is expected to run high as the surge works downstream. Creek and wash banks can give way without warning during flood events, and the dark makes it much harder to spot rising water on the roads.

**What to do:**

- Never drive into a flooded roadway — turn around, don't drown. It takes only a foot of moving water to sweep away a car.

- Stay back from creek banks and washes — they are unstable and can collapse under you during flooding.

- If you see water rising around you, get to higher ground immediately.

- Avoid walking through floodwater, especially at night. You can't tell how deep it is or how fast it's moving.

- Never camp or park a vehicle in a wash bottom.

*Source: National Weather Service in Flagstaff, October 22, 2026.*