Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 16, 1989San Augustine County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at May 16, 1989, 12:52 PM CDT for San Augustine County, Texas. It was in force for 68 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1989, 12:52 PM CDT (17:52 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1989, 2:00 PM CDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County San Augustine 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

Longview/Gregg, TX (KGGG), launched 12:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 114 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 12:00Z on 1989-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 12:00Z on 1989-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1311 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
186 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBPT 161752
FFWBPT
TXC405-161900-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
1252 PM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORT ARTHUR HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHEAST TEXAS
          ...SAN AUGUSTINE
 
AT 1245 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL ACROSS SAN AUGUSTINE COUNTY...THEY WERE MOVING EAST AT 30
MILES AN HOUR.
 
EACH THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING ONE INCH OF RAINFALL AS THEY
FOLLOW EACH OTHER ACROSS THE COUNTY.  MOTORISTS IN THE CITY OF SAN
AUGUSTINE ARE ADVISED THAT WATER WILL ACCUMULATE IN LOW AREAS...NEAR
SHOPPING CENTERS...AND UNDERPASSES AND STREETS WITH POOR DRAINAGE.
 
 
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.
 
NNNN

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 16, 7:55 AM CDT, 4 hours 57 minutes before
TTAAOO KESF 161255
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALEXANDRIA LA
1255 PM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 300PM
THIS AFTERNOON FOR RAPIDES GRANT AND LASALLE
PARISHES OF CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS SOME VERY STRONG WILL BE
MOVING ACROSS THE PARISHES FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
PERSONS IN CENTRAL SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY
OF SEVERE WEATHER WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS...AT 1255PM
RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS bHAD MOVED INTO RAPIDES AND GRANT
PARISHES MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 16, 10:46 AM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1045 AM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM FOR CENTRAL
AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...

AT 1039 AM RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN NORTHWEST
OF MANY IN NORTHWEST LOUISIANA.

RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE GENERALLY NORTH OF A LINE FROM JENA TO
THE SOUTHERN END OF TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR...AND WEST OF A LINE FROM
DE QUINCY TO THE SOUTHERN END OF TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR.
Special weather statement, May 16, 11:36 AM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1140 AM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM FOR CENTRAL
AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...

AT 1126 AM...RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN IN THE
MANY AREA IN NORTHWEST LOUISIANA.

OTHERWISE A LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS GENERALLY NORTH
OF A LINE FROM KOUNTZE TEXAS...TO DE QUINCY...TO LEESVILLE...TO JENA.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 MPH.
Special weather statement, May 16, 12:32 PM CDT, 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1233 PM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM FOR CENTRAL
AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR TODAY FOR VERNON PARISH...

AT 1225 PM...RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN JUST
NORTH OF MANY...AND OVER TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR SOUTHWEST OF MANY.

OTHERWISE A LARGE AREA OF R;AIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS GENERALLY NORTH
OF A LINE FROM RAYBURN LAKE TEXAS TO ALEXANDRIA...AND WEST OF A LINE
FROM DE QUICNY TO RAYBURN LAKE TEXAS.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 MPH.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 9:14 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHNacogdoches46 min
May 16, 9:45 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHSabine, San Augustine45 min
May 16, 12:12 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHNacogdoches2 hr

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.