Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 10, NWS Brownsville, TX

October 13, 19974 counties in Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this flash flood warning at Oct 13, 1997, 8:30 AM CDT for 4 counties in 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
Oct 13, 1997, 8:30 AM CDT (13:30 UTC)
Expired
Oct 13, 1997, 11:30 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cameron County, TX, Hidalgo County, TX, Kenedy County, TX, Willacy County, TX

The radar

The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 70 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:30 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

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 73 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-10-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2438 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-10-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 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
2438 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
542 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 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 KBRO 131245
FFWBRO
TXC061-215-261-489-131630-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
830 AM CDT MON OCT 13 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH TEXAS
 
   ...CAMERON COUNTY...HIDALGO COUNTY...KENEDY COUNTY
   AND WILLACY COUNTY...
 
AT 830 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN BROWNSVILLE SHOWED
NUMEROUS HEAVY RAIN PRODUCING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN
KENEDY...EASTERN HIDALGO...WILLACY AND WESTERN CAMERON COUNTIES. THESE
STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MPH AND ARE PRODUCING
TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR. AFTER THE LAST SEVERAL
DAYS HEAVY RAINFALL OVER THE EASTERN VALLEY...THE GROUND IS VERY
SATURATED AND ANY ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINS WILL QUICKLY CAUSE
FLOODING...ESPECIALLY IN URBAN AREAS.
 
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.
 
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...YOUR LOCAL COMMERCIAL TV AND RADIO
STATIONfS OR YOUR LOCAL CABLE PROVIDER FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
CONCERNING THIS SERIOUS WEATHER SITUATION.
 
SPEECE

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 Brownsville, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Oct 13, 1:49 AM CDT, 6 hours 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 13, 1:49 AM CDT, 6 hours 41 minutes before
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
145 AM CDT MON OVT 13 1997

AIR HERE IS STRESSED WITH WATER. TRANSPORT WINDS ARE FORECAST TO DIE.
CONVECTION MUST TAKE PLACE. EXPECT FRONT MID TO LATE MORNING NOT TO
BRING DRY AIR BUT COOL..POST FRONTAL RAINFALL SEEMS AS LIKELY AS PRE-
FRONTAL VARIETY..ESPECIALLY OVER COASTAL ZONES..BUT LESS VOLATILE THAN
BEFORE. INTRUSION OF MOUNTAIN AIR WILL ONLY STIR UP NEARBY TROPICAL MESS.

TODAY... CLOUDY. 70 POP. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS..SOME HEAVY.
  HIGHS NEAR 80. WIND BCMG NW 15-25 MPH.
TONIGHT... CLOUDY. COOLER. 50 POP. RAIN. LOWS NEAR 60. N 10-15 MPH.
TUESDAY... CLOUDY. MILD. 50 POP. RAIN. HIGHS LOW TO MID 70S. N 10-15V MPH.

BRO 82 60 74 57 72  70/50/50     MFE 82 60 74 53 73  70/30/30
SPI 83 67 77 63 75  70/50/50     RGC 80 56 76 50 76  70/30/30

62

The office that day

Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 13, 9:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROCameron64 min
Oct 13, 11:37 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBROCameron, Willacy6 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1997Every flash flood warning in 1997

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.