Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 11, NWS Brownsville, TX

October 13, 1997Cameron County, Willacy County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this flash flood warning at Oct 13, 1997, 11:37 AM CDT for Cameron County, Willacy County, Texas. It was in force for 6 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, 11:37 AM CDT (16:37 UTC)
Expired
Oct 13, 1997, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cameron County, TX, Willacy County, TX

The radar

The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:40 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, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 48 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 131559 RRA
FFWBRO
TXC061-489-132300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING...CORRECTION FOR COUNTIES INCLUDED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
1137 AM CDT MON OCT 13 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......

IN SOUTH TEXAS

   ...CAMERON AND WILLACY COUNTIES...

AT 1130 AM...BROWNSVILLE RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF HEAVY RAIN PRODUCING
THUNDERSTORMS STRADDLING THE U.S./MEXICO BORDER NEAR BROWNSVILLE. THESE
STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 5 TO 10 MPH AND WILL WIDESPREAD FLOODING
OVER MUCH OF CAMERON COUNTY THROUGH THE NEXT HOUR. THESE STORMS ARE
ASSOCIATE WITH A COLD FRONT WHICH HAS ALREADY MOVED THROUGH ALL OF THE
VALLEY AND IS CURRENT MOVING OFFSHORE. AS THIS FRONT EXITS THE AREA...
THE RAINFALL WILL BEGIN TO STEADILY TAPER OFF THROUGH THE AFTERNOON.

THESE RAINS ARE FALLING OVER GROUNDS THAT ARE ALREADY SATURATED FROM THE
LAST SEVERAL DAYS RAINFALL.  BECAUSE OF THIS...THE FLOODED WATERS AROUND
CAMERON COUNTY WILL BE SLOW TO RECEDE.  NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FLOODING
HAVE ALREADY BEEN RECEIVED FROM SEVERAL CAMERON COUNTY POLICE
DEPARTMENTS.

RESIDENTS OF CAMERON COUNTY SHOULD NOT VENTURE THIS AFTERNOON UNTIL THE
FLOOD WATERS HAVE RECEDED.

THIS FLOOD WARNING REPLACES THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR
CAMERON...WILLACY...KENEDY AND HIDALGO COUNTIES WHICH EXPIRED AT 1130
AM.

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.

&
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, 8:47 AM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 13, 8:47 AM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
935 AM CDT MON OVT 13 1997

LITTLE TIME FOR DISCUSSION...GOING FORECAST LOOKS OK.

60

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 13, 8:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBROCameron, Hidalgo, Kenedy, Willacy3 hr
Oct 13, 9:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROCameron64 min

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.