Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988

Flash Flood Warning 21, NWS Amarillo, TX

September 14, 1988Potter County, Randall County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this flash flood warning at Sep 14, 1988, 10:34 PM CDT for Potter County, Randall County, Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Sep 14, 1988, 10:34 PM CDT (03:34 UTC)
Expired: Sep 15, 1988, 3:30 AM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: NWS Amarillo, TX
Area: Whole counties

Counties Potter County, TX, Randall 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

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 18 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: 1053 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 841 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 282 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.9
Supercell composite: 4.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAMA 150335
FFWAMA
TXC375-381-150830-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1034 PM CDT WED SEP 14 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
          ...POTTER...RANDALL
 
RADAR WAS INDICATING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AREA AND ARE
FORECAST TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
 
NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FLOODING OF INTERSECTIONS IN AMARILLO AND SURROUNDINAREAS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.  MANY STALLED VEHICLES HAVE ALSO BEEN
REPORTED.
 
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.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OGCCUR 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.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Amarillo, TX issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 14, 8:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Potter, Randall	57 min
Sep 14, 9:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Potter, Randall	65 min
Sep 14, 9:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Swisher	56 min
Sep 15, 4:07 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	AMA	Randall	2 hr
Sep 15, 4:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Donley	67 min
Sep 15, 5:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Collingsworth	66 min
Sep 15, 6:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Collingsworth	59 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1988 Every flash flood warning in 1988

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.