Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 29, 1988Blanco County, Hays County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 29, 1988, 8:24 PM CDT for Blanco County, Hays County, Texas. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 29, 1988, 8:24 PM CDT (01:24 UTC)
Expired
May 29, 1988, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Blanco County, TX, Hays 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

Victoria Regiona, TX (KVCT), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 194 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, Victoria Regiona, TX at 00:00Z on 1988-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2592 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, Victoria Regiona, TX at 00:00Z on 1988-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 103 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
2592 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
695 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
103 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
7.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAUS 300126
FFWAUS
TXC031-209-300330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
824 PM CDT SUN MAY 29 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
          ...BLANCO...HAYS
 
THE SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS ISSUED FOR SOUTHERN
HAYS COUNTY HAS BEEN INCLUDED IN A FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH IS NOW IN
EFFECT FOR BOTH BLANCO AND HAYS COUNTIES.
 
SLOW MOVING VERY HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE TO FLOOD ROADS AND SMALL STREAMS
AND CREEKS OVER MUCH OF THOSE COUNTIES.  THE BLANCO RIVER WAS ON THE
RISE TO SUCH A POINT THAT EVACUATIONS WERE IN PROGRESS IN SOME SPOTS
BETWEEN WIMBERLY AND SAN MARCOS.
 
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.

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 29, 4:13 PM CDT, 4 hours 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
410 PM CDT SUN MAY 29 1988

AT 410 PM AUSTIN WEATHER RADAR INDICATED WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND
A FEW THUNDERSTORMS AROUND CENTRAL TEXAS.

ONE INTENSE THUNDERSTROM MOVED ACROSS AUSTIN BETWEEN 330 AND 400 PM.
THAT THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED OVER A HALF INCH OF RAIN... WIND GUSTS TO
36 MPH AND PUBLIC REPORTS OF MARBLE SIZE HAIL COVERING THE GROUND
ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE CITY.

ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM OF ABOUT THE SAME INTENSITY IS LOCATED JUST
SOUTH OF LOCKHART... ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTH OF AUSTIN AND IS MOVING
TOWARD THE NORTH NEAR 25 MPH.  AUSTIN RESIDENTS CAN EXPECT ANOTHER
ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN 430 AND 530 PM.
Special weather statement, May 29, 5:21 PM CDT, 3 hours 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
520 PM CDT SUN MAY 29 1988

...VERY HEAVY RAINS SOUTH OF AUSTIN...

AT 515 PM...RADAR SHOWED A VERY LARGE THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY
RAINS...NEAR 2 INCHES PER HOUR...COVERING A 20 MILE DIAMETER AREA
BETWEEN LOCKHART/KYLE AND BUDA.  SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING OF LOW
SPOTS IS LIKELY OVER THE NEXT HOUR OR SO AS THAT STORM MOVES VERY
SLOWLY TOWARDS THE NORTH.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMjS COVERED ABOUT 50 PERCENT OF CENTRAL
TEXAS...WITHIN 100 MILES OF AUSTIN.  THOSE TOO WERE MOVING TOWARDS
THE NORTH VERY SLOWLY.
Special weather statement, May 29, 6:03 PM CDT, 2 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
605 PM CDT SUN MAY 29 1988

...VERY HEAVY RAINS SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF AUSTIN...

AT 6 PM...RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW VERY SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WITH
VERY HEAVY RAINS...OVER THAT AREA BETWEEN SAN MARCOS/KYLE...CANYON
LAKE AND TO WEST OF DRIPPING SPRINGS.  SO FAR LOCKHART HAS REPORTED
THE HEAVIES RAINFALL...WITH 2.70 INCHES IN ABOUT A TWO HOUR PERIOD.

DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT...LOCALIZED FLOODING OF LOW SPOTS IS LIKELY
FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO...ESPECIALLY IN HAYS COUNTY.  GUSTY WINDS AND
SMALL HAIL WILL LIKELY ACCOMPANY SOME OF THESE STORMS.

PERSONS OUT IN THE HILL COUNTRY TO THE SOUTHWEST AND WEST OF AUSTIN
SHOULD PREPARE FOR THESE STORMS DURING THE EARLY EVENING HOURS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 29, 8:13 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXComal3 hr
May 29, 11:26 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXReal3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1988Every 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.