Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

September 26, 1996Madison County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Sep 26, 1996, 8:02 PM CDT for Madison 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 26, 1996, 8:02 PM CDT (01:02 UTC)
Expired
Sep 26, 1996, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Madison County, TX

The radar

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 142 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:06 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

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 244 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 1996-09-27Temperature 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 1996-09-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 68 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
763 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
117 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 KFTW 270102
FFWHOU
TXC313-270400-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
ISSUED BY FORT WORTH TX
802 PM CDT THU SEP 26 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION   ...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...MADISON COUNTY
 
THE MADISON COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT HAS REPORTED SOME STREET FLOODING
IN THE COUNTY. THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF MORE THAN 2
INCHES PER HOUR CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS THE COUNTY...AND AN ADDITIONAL 2
TO 4 INCHES IS POSSIBLE. FLOODING OF STREETS...CREEKS AND STREAMS...AND
OTHER LOW LYING AREAS IS POSSIBLE.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHIFCLE 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 Sep 26, 2:52 PM CDT, 5 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 26, 2:52 PM CDT, 5 hours 10 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
251 PM CDT THU SEP 26 1996

MAIN FOCUS AND CONCERN IS THE POSSIBILITY OF SVR WX ACROSS SETX.  IN
THE SHORT TERM...STG SRLY WNDS OVR THE FCST AREA AS OPPOSED TO SWRLY
WNDS JUST TO THE WEST WAS REFLECTIVE OF THE SHEAR OVR THE FA.  DWPTS
WERE IN THE MID 70S OVR MUCH OF THE WRN AND SRN PTNS OF THE FCST
AREA...WITH PSX NR 80.  THE S/W PROVIDING FOR THIS SHUD BE THRU THE
FA BY EARLY THIS EVE AND SVR TSTMS LOOK TO BE A SLGT POSSIBILITY
(WITH A TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT NOW UNTIL 9 PM...SEE SPC INFO).

XPC A LULL IN THE ACTIVITY OVNGT...BUT UNCERTAIN ENUF TO KEEP A CHC
FOR TSTMS IN THE FCST.  WITH THE CDFNT LOOKING TO MOV THRU THE FA
LATE FRI AFT/EARLY EVE...THE QUESTION IS WHETHER OR NOT THE
PREFRONTAL ACTIVITY WL BE BIG ENUF EARLIER IN THE 2ND PD TO STEAL ITS
THUNDER (SO TO SPEAK).  RIGHT NOW IT APPEARS THAT PREFRONTAL ACTIVITY
WL KEEP THINGS QUITE BUSY SAT AFT.

THE NEXT QUESTON THEN CONCERNS THE POSSIBILITY OF A FFA.  STMS THIS
AFT WERE MOVG AT A GOOD NRD CLIP...AND DO NOT ANTICIPATE ENUF PRECIP
TONIGHT TO CALL FOR A FFA.  FOR FRIDAY...ETA GRID DATA DOES INDICATE
A FAVORABLE AREA OF LIFT AND THKNS DIFFLUENCE MOVG SRD OVR THE FA
THRU THE AFT INTO THE EVE.  WITH PW/S NR 2 INCHES AT THE TIME...LYR
RH VALUES 70 PERCENT OR GREATER...AND THKNS VALUES NR 575...THERE WL
BE PLENTY OF MOISTURE TO BE SQUEEZED OUT.  SO...NEED TO ADDRESS THE
QUESTON OF A FFA FOR FRI AFT AND EVE.  WL LIKELY ISSUE ONE ON THE 4AM
AFD/ZFP.  40

PRELIMS...
CLL 76/91/57/79 373
IAH 78/92/58/78 374
GLS 81/87/67/77 375

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 26, 3:24 PM CDT, 4 hours 38 minutes before
TXZ163-164-177>179-198>200-211>214-227-270225-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
324 PM CDT THU SEP 26 1996

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 9 PM...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 9 PM
TONIGHT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS GENERALLY SOUTH AND EAST OF A
CROCKETT TO BELVILLE TO RICHMOND TO ANAHUAC LINE.  COUNTIES INCLUDED
IN THE WATCH AREA ARE...HOUSTON...TRINITY...WALKER...GRIMES...POLK...
AUSTIN...SAN JACINTO...MONTGOMERY...WALLER...HARRIS...FORT BEND...
LIBERTY AND CHAMBERS TO INCLUDE THE ADJOINING COASTAL WATERS OF
CHAMBERS COUNTY.

A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES WILL CONTINUE TO INTERACT WITH A
MOIST AND UNSTABLE SOUTHEAST TEXAS AIRMASS TO PRODUCE SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF WHICH COULD BECOME SEVERE...INTO THE EARLY
EVENING HOURS.  THIS COUPLED WITH STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS AT THE SURFACE
COULD PROVIDE ENOUGH WIND SHEAR TO ALLOW FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF
ISOLATED TORNADOES.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES
AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.  PERSONS IN
THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR THE
LATEST UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS DANGEROUS
WEATHER SITUATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 26, 9:01 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHouston119 min
Sep 26, 10:32 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXTrinity58 min
Sep 26, 10:57 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHouston, Madison, Trinity2 hr
Sep 26, 11:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXPolk57 min
Sep 27, 12:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXPolk, San Jacinto64 min
Sep 27, 1:12 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXSan Jacinto, Walker3 hr
Sep 27, 1:12 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXPolk3 hr
Sep 27, 4:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXLiberty, San Jacinto57 min
Sep 27, 4:20 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXPolk, San Jacinto115 min
Sep 27, 4:38 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXMontgomery3 hr
Sep 27, 4:50 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXLiberty3 hr
Sep 27, 5:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXLiberty, Montgomery55 min
Sep 27, 5:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXLiberty, Montgomery66 min
Sep 27, 6:15 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXPolk, San Jacinto105 min
Sep 27, 6:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris66 min
Sep 27, 6:50 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris, Montgomery3 hr
Sep 27, 6:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXLiberty65 min
Sep 27, 7:54 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXLiberty3 hr
Sep 27, 9:38 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXLiberty67 min
Sep 27, 9:47 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris, Montgomery3 hr
Sep 27, 9:56 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXChambers, Galveston64 min
Sep 27, 10:33 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXLiberty4 hr
Sep 27, 12:09 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXChambers66 min
Sep 27, 12:20 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXChambers, Harris4 hr
Sep 27, 1:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers, Galveston48 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.