Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 30, NWS Corpus Christi, TX

May 23, 1997Calhoun County, Texas

NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 23, 1997, 1:30 PM CDT for Calhoun County, Texas. 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
May 23, 1997, 1:30 PM CDT (18:30 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1997, 3:30 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Corpus Christi, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Calhoun County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:31 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, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 1997-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2011 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 99 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
2011 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
470 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
105 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRP 231834
FFWCRP
TXC057-232030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
130 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...CALHOUN COUNTY
 
AT 125 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER EASTERN CALHOUN COUNTY FROM PORT LAVACA TO
PORT OCONNOR. RADAR ESTIMATES OF 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE OCCURRED
OVER MOST OF THE COUNTY DURING THE PAST HOUR. THIS STORM WAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. STREET FLOODING IS LIKELY.  AN ADDITIONAL 2-3
INCHES OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT 2 HOURS AS STORMS MOVE IN
FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO.  THIS WILL INCREASE THE THREAT OF FLASH
FLOODING ALONG CREEKS...RIVERS AND OTHER LOW LYING 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 LOW 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 Corpus Christi, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at May 23, 8:58 AM CDT, 4 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 8:58 AM CDT, 4 hours 32 minutes before
COASTAL BEND FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
900 AM CDT FRI MAY 23 1997

WV IMAGERY SHOWS DECENT S/W OVR NRN MX THAT WL TRACK EWD TOWARD
DRT/LRD AND TOWARD THE COASTAL PLAINS LATER TODAY. CRP 12Z SOUNDING
CALCULATED FM SHARP VERY MOIST...UNSTABLE AND UNCAPPED (LI -6...K 35
...CAPE +2900 JKG-1 AND PW 1.77 INCHES). MANUAL PROGS SUGGEST THAT
THE WARM FNT XTNDS ACROSS NE TX/LA...HOWEVER STREAMLINE ANALYSIS
SUGGESTS THAT THE MAIN BNDRY EXISTS FARTHER S ALONG A DRT-CRP LINE.
OUTFLO FM LAST NIGHT'S CNVTN JUST PAST THRU THE CRP INTL AIRPORT
WHILE KCRP 88D BASE REF SHOWING NEW CONVECTIVE DVLPMNT ALONG THE SRN
PORTIONS OF THIS OUTFLO TRACKING NWD. GIVEN THE INSTABILITY IN PLACE
ACROSS THE FA AND APPROACHING S/W FM THE W...SEE NO NEED TO DEVIATE
FM PREVIOUS FCST BUT WL INCREASE POPS FOR THE ERN HALF TO 70% CHANCE
OF SHRA/TSTM...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE. WL ALSO INCREASE POPS
IN THE WRN HALF OF THE FA TO 50% CHA|NCE OF SHRA/TSTM... LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL POSSIBLE.

SRP...77

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 10:08 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningCRPNueces3 hr
May 23, 10:44 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningCRPSan Patricio3 hr
May 23, 3:38 PM CDTTornado WarningCRPBee, Live Oak67 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.