Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 30, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

October 4, 1986Upton County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at Oct 4, 1986, 11:14 AM CDT for Upton County, Texas. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Oct 4, 1986, 11:14 AM CDT (16:14 UTC)
Expired: Oct 4, 1986, 3:15 PM CDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area: Whole counties

County Upton 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

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 66 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 244 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -79 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 954 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 195 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 223 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 4.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAAOO KMAF 041614
FFWMAF
TXC461-042015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1114 AM CDT SAT OCT  4 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
 
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
          ..UPTON

AT 1115 AM CDT HEAVY RAIN WITH FLASH FLOODING WAS OCCURRING IN THE
CITY OF MC CAMEY. REPORTED BY THE DEPT OF PUBLIC SAFTEY. HIGHWAY 67
HAS BEEN CLOSED.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES, DIPS, OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM, EVEN A SMALL ONE,
ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

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, Oct 4, 11:09 AM CDT, 5 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1100 AM CDT SAT OCT 4 1986

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE PERMIAN BASIN PORTIONS
OF SOUTHWEST TEXAS AND PORTION OF THE CONCHO VALLEY...

AT 1025 AM CDT SOME VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE FROM NORTHEAST OF
FORT STOCKTON TO NEAR COLORADO CITY. THE CITY OF BIG SPRING REPORTED
11/2 INCHES OF RAINWITHSOME STREET FLODDING. WITH THE GROUND ALREADY
SATURATED RUN OFF WILL BE QUICK.PERSON SHOULD BE ALERT AND TAKE QUICK
ACTION.
MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AT 10 MILES AN HOUR.

AREAS RECEIVING HEAVY RAIN ON TOP OF ALREADY SATURATED GROUND ARE IN
DANGER OF FLASH FLOODING. BE ALERT FOR RISING WATER AND LISTEN FOR
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS ON NOAA WEATHER RADIO.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 3, 8:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Crane	65 min
Oct 3, 8:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Glasscock	50 min
Oct 3, 9:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Upton	64 min
Oct 3, 10:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Crane	65 min
Oct 4, 2:00 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Glasscock	4 hr
Oct 4, 3:10 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Upton	4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1986 Every 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.