Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 9, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

September 12, 1989Dawson County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at Sep 12, 1989, 6:17 PM CDT for Dawson County, Texas. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 12, 1989, 6:17 PM CDT (23:17 UTC)
Expired
Sep 12, 1989, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Dawson 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 91 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 1989-09-12Temperature 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1989-09-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 115 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
158 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 122318
FFWMAF
TXC115-130215-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
617 PM CDT TUE SEP 12 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
          ...DAWSON
 
AT 605 PM CDT...PUBLIC REPORTED UP TO 3 FEET OF WATER IN LAMESA.
THUNDERSTOMS HAVE BEEN INCREASING IN INTENSITY AND NUMBER OVER DAWSON
COUNTY DURING THE PAST HOUR.
 
 
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 ROADW\AY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

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, Sep 12, 4:46 PM CDT, 1 hour 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
435 PM CDT TUE SEP 12 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PARTS OF WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW
MEXICO FROM 500 PM UNTIL 1000 PM CDT...

AT 425 PM...THUNDERSTORMS...SOME VERY HEAVY...WERE WIDELY SCATTERED IN
A 135 MILE WIDE AREA FROM 35 MILES NORTH OF LUBBOCK TO 30 MILES WEST OF
SEIRRA BLANCA. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

DURING THE LAST HOUR A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WENT THROUGH ROSWELL NEW
MEXICO AND REPORTS OF GRAPEFRUIT SIZE HAIL HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. THIS
STORM IS WEAKENING BUT MOVING EAST ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR, AND TOWARD
NORTHERN LEA COUNTY.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO, TV OR LOCAL RADIO STATIONS FOR LATER
STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Sep 12, 5:31 PM CDT, 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
526 PM CDT TUE SEP 12 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PARTS OF WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW
MEXICO FROM 500 PM CDT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT...
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR NORTHERN LEA COUNTY UNTIL 5 PM MDT...

AT 425 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS...SOME HEAVY...WERE WIDELY SCATTERED IN
A 165 MILE WIDE AREA FROM 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF LUBBOCK TO 30 MILES WEST
PRESIDIO. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

DURING THE LAST HOUR A SECOND SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WENT THROUGH ROSWELL
NEW MEXICO AND REPORTS OF ONE AND ONE HALF INCH HAIL HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

S&TAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO, TV OR LOCAL RADIO STATIONS FOR LATER
STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 12, 6:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFDawson57 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.