Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 40, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

June 18, 1986Bexar County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this flash flood warning at Jun 18, 1986, 4:26 AM CDT for Bexar County, Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 18, 1986, 4:26 AM CDT (09:26 UTC)
Expired
Jun 18, 1986, 9:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Bexar County, TX

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Victoria Regiona, TX (KVCT), launched 00:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 171 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Victoria Regiona, TX at 00:00Z on 1986-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1157 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Victoria Regiona, TX at 00:00Z on 1986-06-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 26 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1157 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
807 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
107 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KSAT 180926
FFWSAT
TXC029-181400-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
426 AM CDT WED JUN 18 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...BEXAR

HEAVY RAIN THAT DEVELOPED JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT HAS CONTINUED ACROSS
THE NORTH AND WEST PORTIONS OF BEXAR COUNTY.  OVER 2 INCHES OF RAIN
HAS BEEN FALLEN IN THAT TIME IN THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE COUNTY.
LOW WATER CROSSINGS ARE BEGINNNING TO COLLECT WATER AND FLASH
FLOODING IS LIKELY WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR HAS BEEN
REPORTED.  TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS AS REQUIRED TO PROTECT LIFE
AND PROPERTY.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES..YOU SHOULD GO TO A SAFE PLACE
IMMEDIATELY.  YOU SHOULD ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
TO RELAY YOUR SEVERE WEATHER RSEPORTS TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE OFFICE.

PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO..TV OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO STATION
FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS REGARDING THIS HEAVY RAIN EVENT.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 18, 3:00 AM CDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before
KSAT 171912

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
300 AM CDT WED JUN 18 1986

...SLOW MOVING THUNDERSHOWERS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER BEXAR COUNTY...

A 300 AM THIS MORNING THUNDERSHOWERS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER BEXAR COUNTY
AND WERE MOVING SLOWLY NORTHWEST AT ABOUT 5 MPH.  THE THUNDERSHOWERS
WERE MOSTLY OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF BEXAR COUNTY WITH THE HEAVIEST
LOCATED OVER THE NORTH PART OF THE COUNTY.  BECAUSE OF THE SLOW MOVEMENT
OF THESE THUNDERSHOWERS..RAINFALL AMOUNTS COULD BE HEAVY.  THEREFORE
LOW WATER CROSSINGS AND SMALL CREEKS COULD FLOOD RAPIDLY.

MOTORISTS SHOULD EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION AND NOT TRY TO CROSS
FLOODED ROADS.  ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS NECESSARY.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 18, 6:45 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBandera3 hr
Jun 18, 8:56 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBexar3 hr
Jun 18, 9:55 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBandera3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1986Every flash flood warning in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.