Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 15, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 3, 1990Gillespie County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 3, 1990, 3:35 AM CDT for Gillespie County, Texas. It was in force for 115 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 1990, 3:35 AM CDT (08:35 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1990, 5:30 AM CDT
In force
115 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Gillespie 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 00:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 211 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 00:00Z on 1990-05-03Temperature 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, Del Rio, TX at 00:00Z on 1990-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 43 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
833 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
229 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAUS 030838
FFWAUS
TXC171-031030-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
335 AM CDT THU MAY 3 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
          ...GILLESPIE
 
WEATHER RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW ONLY LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS OVER GILLESPIE
COUNTY...MOVING NORTHEAST. HOWEVER...OVERNIGHT RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF
UP TO THREE INCHES HAVE CAUSED ROAD CLOSINGS AND MORE FLOODING IS
CERTAIN INTO EARLY MORNING AS WATERS CONTINUE TO RISE.
 
MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING 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.

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 2, 10:32 PM CDT, 5 hours 3 minutes before
TXZ030-034>037-030500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
1030 PM CDT WED MAY 2 1990

...TORNADO WATCH FOR TRAVIS AND ALL SURROUNDING COUNTIES UNTIL 4 AM CDT....

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TRAVIS AND ALL SURROUNDING COUNTIES THOUGH
   TONIGHT EXCLUDING FAYETTE AND BURLESON COUNTIES ...

AT 1020 PM RADAR SHOWED A LARGE LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
SOME WITH HEAVY RAIN FROM DEL RIO NORTHEAST TO THE DALLAS FORT WORTH AREA.
THE STRONGER THUNDERSORMS WERE LOCATED SOUTH OF JUNCTION...WEST OF
FREDERICKSBURGH...AND WEST OF LLANO. MOVEMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL STORMS
IS TO THE NORTH WHILE THE LINE IS SLOWLY MOVING EAST.

THESE STORMS ARE PRESENTLY MOVING INTO GILLESPIE...LLANO...SAN SABA AND
MILLS COUNTIES. THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...HAIL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 9:14 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXEdwards2 hr
May 2, 10:25 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXEdwards, Real3 hr
May 2, 10:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKerr60 min
May 2, 11:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXReal47 min
May 2, 11:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGillespie57 min
May 2, 11:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBandera64 min
May 3, 12:07 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXGillespie3 hr
May 3, 12:12 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBandera, Kerr4 hr
May 3, 1:38 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXEdwards, Real3 hr
May 3, 4:09 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBandera, Edwards, Kerr, Real6 hr
May 3, 4:09 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXKendall6 hr
May 3, 5:04 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBlanco3 hr
May 3, 5:25 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXGillespie3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1990Every flash flood warning in 1990

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.