Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

July 9, 1988Ector County, Midland County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at Jul 9, 1988, 4:56 PM CDT for Ector County, Midland County, Texas. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 9, 1988, 4:56 PM CDT (21:56 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 1988, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Ector 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 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 12 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1988-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 487 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1988-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 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
487 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
781 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
35 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 092157
FFWMAF
TXC135-329-100000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
456 PM CDT SAT JUL 9 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
          ...ECTOR...MIDLAND
 
AT 455 PM THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WERE LOCATED NEAR THE
MIDLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT....LITTLE MOVEMENT WAS INDICATED.
 
THE PRECIPITATION IN THE PAST HOUR HAS REACHED 1 INCH AND ANY
ADDITIONAL RAINS ON THE ALREADY SOAKED GROUND WILL CAUSE RAPID RUNOFF
AND FLASH FLOODING IN ODESSA AND MIDLAND. BE ESPECIALLY CAREFUL IN
CROSSING KNOWN DRAINAGE STREETS.
 
 
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

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, Jul 9, 3:39 PM CDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
340 PM CDT SAT JUL 9 1988

AT 330 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS AND SHOWERS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE
ENCLOSED WITHIN A 190 MILE WIDE AREA FROM 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF VAN
HORN TO 30 MILES WEST OF GUTHRIE.

HEAVIEST RAINFALL WAS LOCATED NORTH OF GOLDSMIT TO EAST OF ANDREWS TO
JUST NORTH AND MIDLAND. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHWEST AT 5 MILES AN
HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN CAUSE HIGH WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
SMALL HAIL...AND FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS. MINOR FLOODING HAS
BEEN REPORTED IN MIDLAND...AND WITH THE VERY HEAVY RAIN...MORE
FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED IN OTHER AREAS.
Special weather statement, Jul 9, 3:44 PM CDT, 1 hour 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
340 PM CDT SAT JUL 9 1988

AT 330 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS AND SHOWERS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE
ENCLOSED WITHIN A 190 MILE WIDE AREA FROM 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF VAN
HORN TO 30 MILES WEST OF GUTHRIE.

HEAVIEST RAINFALL WAS LOCATED NORTH OF GOLDSMITH TO EAST OF ANDREWS TO
JUST NORTH AND MIDLAND. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHWEST AT 5 MILES AN
HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN CAUSE HIGH WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
SMALL HAIL...AND FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS. MINOR FLOODING HAS
BEEN REPORTED IN MIDLAND...AND WITH THE VERY HEAVY RAIN...MORE
FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED IN OTHER AREAS.
Special weather statement, Jul 9, 4:46 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
445 PM CDT SAT JUL 9 1988

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE PERMIAN BASIN UNTIL MIDNIGHT...

AT 430 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE BETWEEN
STANTON AND KERMIT. STREET FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED IN MIDLAND WITH
THESE STORMS.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM THE
SOUTH PLAINS TO THE DAVIS MOUNTAINS IN TEXAS AND IN SOUTHEAST NEW
MEXICO.

LITTLE MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WAS INDICATED

THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND FLOODING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OF LOCAL RADIO/TV FOR ADDITIONAL
SVTATEMENTS.

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.