Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 40, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

September 15, 1996Lavaca County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this flash flood warning at Sep 15, 1996, 8:56 AM CDT for Lavaca County, Texas. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 15, 1996, 8:56 AM CDT (13:56 UTC)
Expired
Sep 15, 1996, 12:00 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lavaca County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:59 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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 188 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1996-09-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1942 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1996-09-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 245 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
1942 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
733 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
245 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
318 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.2
Supercell composite
14.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSAT 151402 COR
FFWSAT
TXC285-151700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING...CORRECTED FOR TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
856 AM CDT SUN SEP 15 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL NOON CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS

   ...LAVACA COUNTY

AT 850 AM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS FROM YOAKUM TO SHERIDAN MOVING TO THE EAST 20 TO 25 MPH.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS UP TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR CAN BE EXPECTED AS THESE STORMS
MOVE ACROSS THE COUNTY IN THE NEXT HOUR AND HALF FLOODING LOW LYING
AREAS AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS. MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO USE CAUTION
DRIVING THIS MORNING.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IMMINENT.
MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS BRIDGES...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY
TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT TO ESCAPE
RISING WATER DURING THREATENING RAINS.

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

Local storm report, Sep 15, 3:05 AM CDT, 5 hours 51 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED EVENT TIMES...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TEXAS
205 AM CDT SUN SEP 15 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1003 PM    DEL RIO                   TX   58 MPH TSTM GUST
09/14/96   VAL VERDE                      RANGER REPORTED 58 MPH
                                          WIND AT SAN PEDRO CYN 8MI
                                          NW OF DEL RIO.

1045 PM    DEL RIO                   TX   TORNADO
09/14/96   VAL VERDE                      PUBLIC REPORTED PSBL
                                          TORNADO ON GROUND 15-20 MI
                                          NORTH OF DEL RIO ON US
                                          277.

1107 PM    DEL RIO                   TX   TORNADO
09/14/96   VAL VERDE                      PUBLIC REPORTED PSBL
                                          TORNADO ON GROUND 12 NW OF
                                          DEL RIO ON US 90.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 14, 9:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXVal Verde4 hr
Sep 14, 10:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde61 min
Sep 14, 10:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKinney62 min
Sep 14, 10:48 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXVal Verde42 min
Sep 14, 10:48 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXVal Verde42 min
Sep 14, 10:59 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXEdwards61 min
Sep 14, 11:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKinney, Maverick64 min
Sep 15, 12:08 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXKinney3 hr
Sep 15, 12:37 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXEdwards3 hr
Sep 15, 12:56 AM CDTTornado WarningEWXUvalde64 min
Sep 15, 2:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXUvalde55 min
Sep 15, 2:14 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXReal, Uvalde3 hr
Sep 15, 3:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBandera, Medina68 min
Sep 15, 5:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar, Comal52 min
Sep 15, 5:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGuadalupe60 min
Sep 15, 5:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXHays44 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1996Every flash flood warning in 1996

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.