Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 33, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

July 15, 1996Loving County, Reeves County, Texas; Eddy County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at Jul 15, 1996, 7:59 PM CDT for Loving County, Reeves County, Texas; Eddy County, New Mexico. It was in force for 2 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
Jul 15, 1996, 7:59 PM CDT (00:59 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1996, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Eddy County, NM, Loving County, TX, Reeves County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 157 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, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 1996-07-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 386 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, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 1996-07-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 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
386 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-69 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1497 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 160101
FFWMAF
NMC015-TXC301-389-160300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
759 PM CDT (659 PM MDT) MON JUL 15 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM MDT (1000 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO

   ...SOUTHEASTERN EDDY COUNTY

IN WEST TEXAS

   ...WESTERN LOVING COUNTY
   ...NORTHERN REEVES COUNTY
 
AT 8 PM CDT (7 PM MDT)...MIDLAND DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED THAT OVER 3
INCHES OF RAIN HAD FALLEN IN A LARGE AREA FROM EXTREME SOUTHEAST
EDDY COUNTY NEW MEXICO...TO THE PECOS RIVER NEAR ORLA. THE STORMS
THAT HAD PRODUCED THIS RAIN WERE NEARLY STATIONARY...SO ADDITIONAL
FLOOD-PRODUCING RAIN IS EXPECTED OVER THESE SATURATED AREAS.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR nLOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. 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 Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jul 15, 3:18 PM CDT, 4 hours 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 15, 3:18 PM CDT, 4 hours 41 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
318 PM CDT MON JUL 15 1996

PCGRIDDS OR INTERNET DATA UNAVAILABLE THIS TIME AROUND. WATER VAPOR
SATL SHOWS A WEAK VORT MAX SOUTH OF AZ. A SPEED MAX WAS ALSO MOVING
E/WARD NORTH OF LBB. WINDS ALOFT ABOVE 7H GENERALLY FROM THE SOUTH
VEERING TO WEST AOA 25H. NEW THUNDERSTORMS FIRING OVER MOST OF
CWA..MOSTLY FROM MAF AND SOUTHWARD KEEPING US OCCUPIED.

AGREED MORE WITH THE NGM SOLN THIS TIME. BOTH MODELS AT THE SFC WERE
PRETTY SIMILAR WITH FCSTS THIS TIME. THE AVN THRU THIS FCST RUN
DVLPD A STRONGER UPPER RIDGE OVER THE SRN USA..WHILE SEEMINGLY
IGNORING THE SFC REFLECTION. THIS WAS PICKED UP BETTER BY THE NGM
UPPER AIR FCST. THE AVN ALSO LOOKED TOO DRY CONSIDERING CONTINUED
SELY SFC FLOW..WITH THE UPPER AIR MOISTURE IN NO BIG HURRY TO LEAVE
THE REGION. AS MENTIONED BEFORE..THESE SLOW MOVING STORMS MAY
PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS AND AGGRAVATE FLOODING OVER AREAS THAT
ALREADY RECEIVED A LOT OF RAINS YSTRY. FOR TONIGHT..WILL GO WITH
CURRENT GUIDANCE. COOR WITH LBB..THANKS FOR THE HELP. COMMENTS ARE
WELCOME....

CNM  69 / 20
MAF  68 / 30
MRF  61 / 30
P07  74 / 20

BOYD

The office that day

Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 16, 3:45 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFJeff Davis, Pecos3 hr
Jul 15, 7:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy, Lea46 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1996Flash Flood Warnings in New Mexico, 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.