Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1995

Flash Flood Warning 49, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

December 17, 1995Galveston County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Dec 17, 1995, 2:27 PM CST for Galveston County, Texas. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 17, 1995, 2:27 PM CST (20:27 UTC)
Expired
Dec 17, 1995, 5:30 PM CST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Galveston County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 180 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 12:00Z on 1995-12-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 675 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1995-12-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 239 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
675 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
573 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
239 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
246 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 172029
FFWHOU
TXC167-172330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
227 PM CST SUN DEC 17 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...GALVESTON COUNTY
 
HEAVY RAINS WILL CONTINUE OVER GALVESTON COUNTY FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL
HOURS WITH ADDITIONAL 2-3 INCHES POSSIBLE IN SOME LOCATIONS. SOME
FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS...LOW WATER CROSSINGS AND AREAS THAT
NORMALLY FLOOD DURING HEAVY RAIN IS ALREADY OCCURRING AND WILL ONLY
BECOME MORE SEVERE AS ADDITIONAL RAIN FALLS ACROSS THE REGION.
 
TRAVEL ACROSS GALVESTON COUNTY SHOULD BE AVOIDED THIS AFTERNOON IF AT
ALL POSSIBLE DUE TO THE FLOODED ROADWAYS.
 
 
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.

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 Dec 17, 9:19 AM CST, 5 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 17, 9:19 AM CST, 5 hours 8 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
918 AM CST SUN DEC 17 1995

TSTMS LOOK TO BE IN THE PICTURE FOR SERN TX THRU TODAY.  AREA
SOUNDINGS AT 12Z SHOWED PW/S NR 1.5 TO 1.6...AND REFERRING TO THE
QPFERD FROM NCEP...PW/S IN THE GULF WERE IN THE 1.5 TO 1.73 INCH
RANGE.  NEEDLESS TO SAY WL CONT THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH THRU THE AFT
AND CONSIDER EXTENDING THRU THE NIGHT AS THE NEW GUIDANCE COMES IN.
SVR FACTOR FOR TODAY A CONCERN ALSO...ALREADY SEVERAL REPORTS OF SVR
WX HAVE OCCURRED ACROSS THE FCST AREA THIS AM.  SATL SHOWS MSC OVR
THE ENTIRE AREA...WITH SOME BACKBUILDING OCCURRING.  THE ENTIRE
BOUNDARY DOES LOOK TO BE MOVG EWD SLOWLY...BUT CONVECTION BEHIND THIS
AREA OF STORMS IS VERY PROBABLE THIS AFT.  HEATING...EVEN FOR THIS
TIME OF YEAR...WL INTERACT WITH THE VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE ATMOS.

LOWERED TEMPS A BIT FAR INLAND COUNTIES...KEPT BASICALLY THE SAME
ELSEWHERE.
...40...

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 17, 2:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBurleson60 min
Dec 17, 2:40 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMatagorda65 min
Dec 17, 3:06 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXGrimes, Waller54 min
Dec 17, 3:19 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXMontgomery56 min
Dec 17, 3:19 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXGrimes39 min
Dec 17, 3:22 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXWalker68 min
Dec 17, 4:23 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXSan Jacinto52 min
Dec 17, 4:23 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMontgomery31 min
Dec 17, 5:16 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXPolk59 min
Dec 17, 5:26 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXSan Jacinto34 min
Dec 17, 5:33 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria, Matagorda57 min
Dec 17, 6:13 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXBurleson3 hr
Dec 17, 6:54 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXPolk, San Jacinto3 hr
Dec 17, 7:31 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMatagorda59 min
Dec 17, 7:39 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXMatagorda51 min
Dec 17, 7:44 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXGrimes3 hr
Dec 17, 7:59 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXMontgomery4 hr
Dec 17, 8:14 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria, Matagorda61 min
Dec 17, 8:43 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris, Liberty2 hr
Dec 17, 8:43 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris, Liberty2 hr
Dec 17, 9:00 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston2 hr
Dec 17, 9:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXGalveston2 hr
Dec 17, 9:27 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXGalveston63 min
Dec 17, 9:47 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXChambers118 min
Dec 17, 9:47 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers118 min
Dec 17, 10:02 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXMatagorda118 min
Dec 17, 10:32 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria, Matagorda58 min
Dec 17, 11:15 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria, Fort Bend4 hr
Dec 17, 11:15 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXMatagorda4 hr
Dec 17, 11:23 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston3 hr
Dec 17, 11:31 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria48 min
Dec 17, 3:20 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXChambers2 hr
Dec 17, 3:20 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria2 hr
Dec 17, 5:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria59 min
Dec 17, 5:30 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria, Galveston3 hr
Dec 17, 5:30 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXChambers3 hr
Dec 17, 5:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXPolk61 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.