Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

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

May 15, 1989Bastrop County, Caldwell County, Travis County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 15, 1989, 4:20 AM CDT for Bastrop County, Caldwell County, Travis County, Texas. It was in force for 115 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 1989, 4:20 AM CDT (09:20 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1989, 6:15 AM CDT
In force
115 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bastrop County, TX, Caldwell County, TX, Travis 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, 9.3 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, Victoria Regiona, TX at 00:00Z on 1989-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3662 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, Victoria Regiona, TX at 00:00Z on 1989-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
3662 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
888 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
3.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAUS 150923
FFWAUS
TXC021-055-453-151115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
420 AM CDT MON MAY 15 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
          ...BASTROP...CALDWELL...TRAVIS
 
HEAVY RAINS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES IN LESS THAN ONE HOUR HAVE FLOODED
MANY LOW SPOTS...STREETS...STREAMS AND CREEKS. LOW WATER CROSSINGS
WERE AT DANGEROUS LEVELS OVER MUCH OF TRAVIS...HAYS...CALDWELLL AND
BASTROP COUNTIES.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FL4OODING 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 15, 12:05 AM CDT, 4 hours 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
1155 PM CDT SUN MAY 14 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A HISTORY OF TORNADIC ACTIVITY AND
LARGE HAIL WAS LOCATED 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF LLANO...JUST WEST OF
THE SMALL TOWN OF PONTOTOC AND JUST NORTH OF MASON. IT WAS MOVING
TOWARDS THE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.  ON ITS PRESENT MOVEMENT...IT
SHOULD PASS VERY CLOSE TO PONTOTOC AND MAY CLOSE TO NEAR LLANO
BEFORE 2 AM.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS OUT UNTIL 3 AM CDT FOR A  LARGE
PART OF CENTRAL TEXAS.

PERSONS IN THE HILL COUNTRY...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE UPPER HIGHLAND LAKES
SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH POSSIBLE TORNADOES...
LARGE HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  DUE TO THE SIZE AND SLOW MOVEMENT
OF THESE STORMS...LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING WILL BE A DISTINCT LIKELI-
HOOD AS THESE STORMS PASS OVER THE HILL COUNTRY SECTIONS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 7:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXMaverick60 min
May 14, 8:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXDimmit66 min
May 14, 10:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXDimmit50 min
May 14, 10:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLa Salle65 min
May 15, 12:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGillespie, Llano57 min
May 15, 1:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKendall58 min
May 15, 2:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBlanco, Burnet, Hays, Travis58 min
May 15, 3:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis59 min
May 15, 4:55 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXFayette, Lee2 hr
May 15, 7:37 AM CDTTornado WarningEWXJackson38 min
May 15, 8:14 AM CDTTornado WarningEWXVictoria46 min
May 15, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGillespie62 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1989Every flash flood warning in 1989

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.