Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

February 5, 1987Val Verde County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this flash flood warning at Feb 5, 1987, 9:10 AM CST for Val Verde County, Texas. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 5, 1987, 9:10 AM CST (15:10 UTC)
Expired
Feb 5, 1987, 1:00 PM CST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Val Verde 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

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 12:00Z, 3.2 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1987-02-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 146 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1987-02-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 20 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 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
146 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-722 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
903 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
16 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 KDRT 051511
FFWDRT
TXC465-051900-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVITATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
910 AM CST THU FEB 5 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 100 PM  FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY IN

SOUTHCENTRAL TEXAS...VAL VERDE.

AT 850 AM CST THE DEVILS RIVER WAS CONTINUING TO RISE AND WAS ABOUT
TO FLOW OVER THE BRIDGE AT BAKERS CROSSING 12 MILES SOUTH OF JUNO.
THE NORMAL FLOW OF THE WATER AT BAKERS CROSSING IS 3.4 FEET AND THE
BRIDGE HEIGHT IS 7.4 FEET.

MOTORISTS TRAVELING IN NORTHERN VAL VERDE COUNTY AND ON HIGHWAY
163 NORTH OF COMSTOCK SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS LOW WATER
CROSSINGS. RANCHERS THAT HAVE LIVESTOCK ALONG THE DEVILS RIVER SHOULD
MOVE THEIR LIVESTOCK TO A PLACE OF SAFETY. CAMPERS AND FISHERMEN
SHOULD ALSO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NO5T
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, Feb 5, 4:10 AM CST, 5 hours before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
HHMM PM CST DDD MMM DD 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS IN THE DEL RIO AREA...

AT 410 AM CST THUNDERSTORMS WITH MODERATE RAINSHOWERS AND
FREQUENT LIGHTNING WERE OBSERVED IN THE DEL RIO AREA. THESE STORMS
WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

SMALL HAIL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND FLOODING OF LOW WATER
CROSSINGS AND LOW LYING AREAS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.
Special weather statement, Feb 5, 4:12 AM CST, 4 hours 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
415 AM CST THU FEB 5 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS IN THE DEL RIO AREA...

AT 410 AM CST THUNDERSTORMS WITH MODERATE RAINSHOWERS AND
FREQUENT LIGHTNING WERE OBSERVED IN THE DEL RIO AREA. THESE STORMS
WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

SMALL HAIL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND FLOODING OF LOW WATER
CROSSINGS AND LOW LYING AREAS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.
Special weather statement, Feb 5, 7:03 AM CST, 2 hours 7 minutes before
BULLETIN
URBAN FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
705 AM CST THU FEB 5 1987

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH BRIEF HEAVY RAINS IS MOVING
THROUGH LAREDO AND THE WEBB COUNTY AREA.  SOME OF THE HEAVY RAIN
MAY PRODUCE BRIEF URBAN STREET FLOODING.  THE LINE OF THUNDER
STORMS SHOULD MOVE AWAY FROM THE LAREDO AREA BY 8 A.M. ALTHOUGH
OTHER THUNDERSTORMS MAY REDEVELOP DURING THE DAY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 5, 1:19 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningEWXVal Verde4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1987Every flash flood warning in 1987

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.