Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 73, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

June 11, 1987Gillespie County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this flash flood warning at Jun 11, 1987, 8:18 PM CDT for Gillespie County, Texas. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 11, 1987, 8:18 PM CDT (01:18 UTC)
Expired
Jun 11, 1987, 11:15 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Gillespie 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 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 211 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 00:00Z on 1987-06-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1550 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, Del Rio, TX at 00:00Z on 1987-06-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1550 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1020 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
9 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.1
Supercell composite
-0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAUS 120118
FFWAUS
TXC171-120415-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
818 PM CDT THU JUN 11 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

TEXAS...GILLESPIE

AT 810 PM CDT A LINE OF HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS EXTENDED FROM THE
NORTHWEST CORNER OF GILLESPIE COUNTY SOUTH BEYOND KERRVILLE.
RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES AN HOUR WILL PRODUCE FLASH
FLOODING AS THIS LINE OF HEAVY SHOWERS MOVES SLOWLY EAST
ACROSS THE COUNTY. THE GROUND IS ALREADY SATURATED AND MOST
CREEKS ARE NEAR BANKFULL. VERY RAPID FLOODING IS POSSIBLE WITH
 THIS STORM SYSTEM.

REMEMBER THAT DEATHS DURING FLASH FLOODING ARE OFTEN RELATED TO
MOTORISTS DRIVING THROUGH FLOODED LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 11, 4:23 PM CDT, 3 hours 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
423 PM CDT THU JUN 11 1987

...THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR VAL VERDE COUNTY IS NO LONGER IN
EFFECT...

AT 420 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED RAINSHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DEL RIO IN OLD MEXICO. ANOTHER AREA OF
THUNDERSTORMS WAS NEAR LANGTRY IN WESTERN VAL VERDE COUNTY. MOVEMENT
WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR.

BOATERS ON THE RIO GRANDE...PECOS...DEVILS...AND AMISTAD LAKE SHOULD
CONINUE TO MONITOR THE WEATHER AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A SAFE
HARBOR SHOULD THE WEATHER BECOME THREATENING.

SMALL HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE LIKELY WITH THESE STORMS.

FIVE FEET OF WATER WAS REPORTED IN THE DRY DEVILS RIVER AND 7 FEET OF
WATER WAS OVER HIGHWAY 189 IN NORTHERN VAL VERDE COUNTY. HIGHWAYS
163 AND 189 ARE CLOSED.

SOME LOW AREAS OF ROADWAYS MAY BECOME FLOODED. MOTORISTS ARE URGED
TO USE CAUTION AND NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS FLOODED LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

CAMPERS AND CANOEISTS ALONG THE DEVILS RIVER SHOULD USE EXTREME
CAUTION...KEEP A LOOKOUT AND BE READY TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL ISSUE ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS...SO
STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO...TV...OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO.
Special weather statement, Jun 11, 8:06 PM CDT, 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
810 PM CDT THU JUN 11 1987

AT 805 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS 50 MILES NORTHWEST OF DEL
RIO. PANDALE CROSSING...60 MILES NORTHWEST OF DEL RIO...REPORTED
THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND FREQUENT
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING DURING THE PAST FIVE MINUTES. THESE STORMS WERE
MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH...BUT ALSO BUILDING TO THE
SOUTHEAST TOWARD DEL RIO.

SOME LOW AREAS OF ROADWAYS MAY BECOME FLOODED...HIGHWAYS 163 AND 189
IN NORTHERN VAL VERDE COUNTY ARE ALREADY CLOSED. MOTORISTS ARE URGED
TO USE CAUTION AND NOT TO ATTEMPT TO CROSS FLOODED LOW WATER
CROSSINGS. CAMPERS AND CANOEISTS ALONG THE PECOS RIVER SHOULD USE
EXTREME CAUTION...KEEP A LOOKOUT AND BE READY TO MOVE TO HIGHER
GROUND.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 11, 8:11 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBandera, Kerr4 hr
Jun 11, 9:43 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXUvalde3 hr
Jun 11, 11:06 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXMedina4 hr
Jun 12, 12:05 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXFrio4 hr
Jun 12, 1:31 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXDimmit, La Salle4 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.