Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 18, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 3, 1990Blanco County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 3, 1990, 5:04 AM CDT for Blanco County, Texas. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 1990, 5:04 AM CDT (10:04 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1990, 8:00 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Blanco 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

Stephenville/Cla, TX (KSEP), launched 00:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 219 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, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 00:00Z on 1990-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1006 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, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 00:00Z on 1990-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 166 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
1006 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
588 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
210 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
4.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAUS 031007
FFWAUS
TXC031-031300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
504 AM CDT THU MAY 3 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
          ...BLANCO
 
HEAVY RAINS HAVE BEEN FALLING IN BLANCO COUNTY THROUGH THE NIGHT. MORE
RAIN WAS DEVELOPING TO THE SOUTHWEST OF BLANCO COUNTY MOVING
NORTHEASTWARD AS A TRAIN EFFECT WHICH WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY
MORNING HOURS.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
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 3, 4:19 AM CDT, 45 minutes before
TXZ035>036-038>039-031030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
415 AM CDT THU MAY 3 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS BEXAR COUNTY THIS MORNING...

AT 400 AM THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS NORTHWESTERN BEXAR COUNTY.
BRIEF HIGH WINDS...HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL ARE POSSIBLE AS THESE STORMS
MOVE ACROSS THE COUNTY.  THESE STORMS PRODUCED PEA SZE HAIL IN UVALDE COUNTY
EARLIER THIS MORNING.

RAIN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO THE MORNING HOURS WITH THE POSSIBILITY
OF BRIEF STREET FLOODING AND FLOODING OF LOW WATER CROSSINGS IN BEXAR
COUNTY AND THE SAN ANTONIO METROPOLITAN AREA.

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, 3:35 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXGillespie115 min
May 3, 4:09 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBandera, Edwards, Kerr, Real6 hr
May 3, 4:09 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXKendall6 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.