Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1995

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

May 30, 1995Harris County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 30, 1995, 5:01 AM CDT for Harris County, Texas. It was in force for 119 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 30, 1995, 5:01 AM CDT (10:01 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 1995, 7:00 AM CDT
In force
119 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Harris County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:00 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 213 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1995-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 8 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1995-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 55 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
8 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-276 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1464 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 301002
FFWHOU
TXC201-301200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
501 AM CDT TUE MAY 30 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...SOUTHERN HARRIS COUNTY
 
AT 500 AM...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING VERY HEAVY RAINS WERE
OCCURRING OVER SOUTHERN HARRIS COUNTY BETWEEN SEEBROOK AND HOBBY
AIRPORT. HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL REPORTS RAINFALL TOTALS OF 3 TO 4
INCHES WITHIN THE PAST TWO HOURS IN THIS AREA.  HEAVY RAINS ARE EXPECTED
TO CONTINUE WHICH MAY RESULT IN FLASH FLOODING.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS FLOOD SITUAZTION.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR
IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR
UNDERPASSES.  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.

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at May 30, 3:31 AM CDT, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 30, 3:31 AM CDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
330 AM CDT TUE MAY 30 1995

SE TX ATMOSPHERE CONTINUES MOIST (BUT NOT AS MOIST AS YESTERDAY) AND
UNSTABLE AS WEAK STATIONARY FRONT REMAINS NEAR THE AREA.  LATEST 88D
AND SATELLITE PICTURES SHOW A LARGE RW/TRW COMPLEX APPROACHING FROM
THE W AND ISOLATED RW/TRW POPPING S OF IAH.  THINKING IS THAT RW/TRW
WILL INCREASE ACROSS SE TX THROUGH MID MORNING THEN DECREASE (MOVE TO
THE E) AS THE DAY PROGRESSES.  WITH SPOTTY VERY HEAVY RAINFALL TOTALS
FROM YESTERDAY AND COORDINATION WITH SAT AND LCH OFFICES...WILL HAVE
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT TODAY GENERALLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 10
WHERE FFG VALUES APPEAR TO BE REACHABLE.  COASTAL COUNTIES HAVE THE
HIGHEST FFG NUMBERS (NEAR 5 INCHES) SO WILL LEAVE THEM OUT OF THE
WATCH.  WITH FRONT REMAINING NEAR SE TX THROUGH WED...WILL LEAVE RAIN
CHANCES IN THE FORECAST.  WILL NOT STRAY TOO FAR FROM MOS TEMPS.

IAH TE 083/071 085/070 086 42754

42

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 30, 3:33 AM CDT, 1 hour 28 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>213-301500-

HEAVY RAIN OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
330 AM CDT TUE MAY 30 1995

THERE IS A RISK OF ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL TODAY FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST
TEXAS.

HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP OVER MUCH OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY.  AS
OF 3 AM...THE LEADING EDGE OF A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS
LOCATED FROM NEAR A COLLEGE STATION TO COLUMBUS LINE...WHILE OTHER
THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED FROM NEAR SEALY TO FREEPORT.  ABUNDANT LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE...A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES AND A WEAK STATIONARY
FRONT JUST NORTH OF THE AREA WILL INTERACT TO PRODUCE WIDESPREAD SHOWER AND
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TODAY.

MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE ARE SATURATED...SO THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY
RAIN EXISTS.  UPPER LEVEL WINDS ARE WEAK PRODUCING SLOW MOVING STORMS.  IN
ADDITION...WEAK WINDS ALOFT ALLOW STORMS TO REDEVELOP OVER THE SAME AREA
FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME WHICH WHICH LIKELY YIELD VERY HEAVY RAINFALL
TOTALS.  RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE EXPECTED WITH TODAYS
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.

THE GROUND IS ALREADY SATURATED FROM PREVIOUS RAINS.  ADDITIONAL RAINS
TODAY WILL CAUSE RIVERS AND STREAMS TO RISE...POSSIBLY FLOODING LOW LYING
AREAS.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD MONITOR THIS
WEATHER SITUATION CLOSELY.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER NEWS
SOURCES FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 5:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris49 min
May 30, 5:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXLiberty33 min
May 30, 5:58 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston2 hr
May 30, 6:15 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXWharton60 min
May 30, 6:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXWharton60 min
May 30, 6:21 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria, Fort Bend2 hr
May 30, 6:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXFort Bend, Harris65 min
May 30, 7:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria, Matagorda67 min
May 30, 7:09 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris2 hr
May 30, 7:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers67 min
May 30, 7:53 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston2 hr
May 30, 8:28 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXChambers37 min
May 30, 9:22 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris2 hr
May 30, 10:04 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston86 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1995Every flash flood warning in 1995

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.