Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 9, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 31, 1987Andrews County, Midland County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 31, 1987, 12:13 AM CDT for Andrews County, Midland County, Texas. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 31, 1987, 12:13 AM CDT (05:13 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 1987, 2:15 AM CDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area: Whole counties

Counties Andrews County, TX, Midland 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 00:00Z, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 20 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: 2975 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 747 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 117 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 KMAF 310513
FFWMAF
TXC003-310715-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1213 AM CDT SUN MAY 31 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
          ...ANDREWS...ECTOR...MIDLAND...WARD...
 
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL IS OCCURING WITH THUNDERSTORMS IN THE PERMIAN
BASIN...1.9 INCHES HAVE BEEN REPORTED DURING THE PAST HOUR...AS OF
1210 AM CDT...IN GARDENDALE...AND ALSO GOLDSMITH REPORTED VERY HEAVY
RAIN AT 1155 PM CDT SATURDAY NIGHT.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
 
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.

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, May 30, 10:48 PM CDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before

URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1045 PM CDT SAT MAY 30 1987

...VERY HEAVY RAIN OCCURING AROUND THE MIDLAND ODESSA AREA...

VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED VERY RAPIDLY IN THE MIDLAND
ODESSA AND SURROUNDING AREAS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE DROPPING LARGE
AMOUNTS OF RAIN VERY RAPIDLY.

TO THE SOUTH AND WEST OF WINK MORE THAN THREE INCHES OF RAIN HAS BEEN
REPORTED BETWEEN 1000 AND 1045 PM TONIGHT.

LARGE AMOUNTS OF RAIN IN THIS SHORT OF TIME WILL CAUSE SMALL STREAMS
AND WATER DRAINAGE DITCHES TO OVERFLOW QUICKLY. ROADS WILL BECOME
UNDER WATER. WATER CONFINED TO THESE SMALL DRAINAGE AREAS WILL BE
FLOWING VERY FAST AND CAN WASH CARS AWAY. PERSONS SHOULD NOT TRY
TO DRIVE OR WALK IN THESE AREAS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 30, 8:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Ward	58 min
May 30, 8:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Winkler	60 min
May 30, 9:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Winkler	66 min
May 30, 9:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Loving	58 min
May 30, 10:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Winkler	65 min
May 30, 10:22 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Winkler	3 hr
May 30, 10:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Martin	70 min
May 30, 11:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Andrews, Ward, Winkler	75 min
May 31, 12:13 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Ector, Ward	2 hr
May 31, 1:35 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Crane	115 min
May 31, 2:15 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Midland, Upton	2 hr
May 31, 2:15 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Andrews	2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1987 Every 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.