Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988

Flash Flood Warning 7, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

September 18, 1988Terrell County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at Sep 18, 1988, 8:17 AM CDT for Terrell County, Texas. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 18, 1988, 8:17 AM CDT (13:17 UTC)
Expired
Sep 18, 1988, 11:15 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Terrell 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 12:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 153 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 12:00Z on 1988-09-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 752 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1988-09-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 191 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
752 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
582 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
291 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 181326 COR
FFWMAF
TXC443-181615-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
817 AM CDT SUN SEP 18 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...

IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
          ...TERRELL

THE REMNANTS OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION GILBERT HAVE ENTERED SOUTHWEST
TEXAS AND HEAVY RAINFALL HAS FALLEN DURING THE NIGHT. THE RIVER
GAGE AT DRYDEN HAD EARLIER RISEN TO OVER 10 FEET. THE ALREADY
SATURATED GROUND WILL CAUSE RAPID RUNOFF INTO LOW LYING AREAS.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR 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.

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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 18, 1:32 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFPecos6 hr
Sep 18, 2:36 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFTerrell5 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.