Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 29, 1988Real County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 29, 1988, 11:26 PM CDT for Real County, Texas. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 29, 1988, 11:26 PM CDT (04:26 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 1988, 2:30 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Real 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, 4.4 hours before the alert went out and 111 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 1988-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2423 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1988-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 39 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
2423 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1457 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
256 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.5
Supercell composite
15.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSAT 300427
FFWSAT
TXC385-300730-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
1126 PM CDT SUN MAY 29 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH TEXAS
          ...REAL
 
WEATHER SERVICE RADAR HAS INDICATED AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM OVER THE
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CORNER OF REAL COUNTY FOR THE PAST HOUR.
ESTIMATES FROM RADAR AND ALSO FROM SATELLITE INDICATE THAT BETWEEN 2
AND 2.5 INCHES OF RAIN MAY HAVE FALLEN OVER THIS AREA. THE HEAVY RAIN
IS JUST EAST OF THE TOWN OF BARKSDALE AND VERY CLOSE TO THE TOWN OF
CAMP WOOD. THIS STORM IS MOVING VERY SLOWLY EASTWARD AND IS LIKELY TO
CAUSE FLASH FLOODING WITHIN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR HAS BEEN
REPORTED.
 
REMEMBER...DEATHS DURING FLASH FLOODING ARE FREQUENTLY RELATED TO
MOTORISTS DRIVING INTO FLOODED LOW WATER CROSSINGS OR FROM CHILDREN
PLAYING NEAR FLOODED STREAMS OR DRAINAGE AREAS.
 
YOU SHOULD ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY YOUR
SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

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, 6:03 PM CDT, 5 hours 23 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.
Special weather statement, May 29, 9:33 PM CDT, 1 hour 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
930 PM CDT SUN MAY 29 1988

...HIGH WINDS CONTINUE TO SWEEP THE CAPITAL AREA...

SUSTAINED 30 MPH WINDS WITH NUNEROUS GUSTS TO 45 HAVE BEEN OBSERVED
OVER THE AUSTIN AREA FOR THE LAST 2 HOURS.  THESE WINDS SEEM TO
ASSOCIATED WITH A STRONG OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM THUNDERSTORMS TO OUR
DISTANT SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST...COMBINED WITH A LOW LEVEL JET WIND
FROM THE SOUTHEAST.

THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY HAS BEEN SLOWLY DECREASING IN INTENSITY AND
AREAL COVERAGE DURING THE LAST HOUR AND THE HIGH WINDS ARE EXPECTED
TO GRADUALLY ABATE LATER TONIGHT.
Special weather statement, May 29, 11:12 PM CDT, 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
1100 PM CDT SUN MAY 29 1988

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

AT 11 PM...RADAR ONCE AGAIN SHOWED SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WITH
VERY HEAVY RAINS...OVER THAT AREA BETWEEN SAN MARCOS BLANCO AND
JOHNSON CITY. TWO TO THREE INCHES OF RAIN FELL ON THIS AREA EARLIER
TONIGHT AND FLOODING WAS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED ALONG THE BLANCO RIVER
AND ALONG SOME OF THE CREEKS IN AND AROUND SAN MARCOS.

DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT...LOCALIZED FLOODING OF LOW SPOTS IS LIKELY
UNTIL 100 AM OR SO...ESPECIALLY IN HAYS AND BLANCO COUNTIES.  GUSTY
WIND 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.

DO NOT DRIVE INTO FLOODED ROADWAYS.

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, 8:24 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBlanco, Hays2 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.