Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 57, NWS Corpus Christi, TX

September 22, 1997Aransas County, Texas

NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued this flash flood warning at Sep 22, 1997, 9:20 AM CDT for Aransas 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 22, 1997, 9:20 AM CDT (14:20 UTC)
Expired
Sep 22, 1997, 12:15 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Corpus Christi, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Aransas County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 50 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:21 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, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 41 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 1997-09-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 626 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-09-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 19 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
626 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
463 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
15 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 KCRP 221421
FFWCRP
TXC007-221715-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
920 AM CDT MON SEP 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...ARANSAS COUNTY
 
...VERY HEAVY RAIFALL CONTINUES IN ARANSAS COUNTY...
 
DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR REFUGIO TO PORTLAND THEN SOUTH TO THE CORPUS
CHRISTI NAVAL AIR STATION.  THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO
THE NORTH AT 10 TO 15 MPH.
 
DOPPLER RADAR WAS ESTIMATING RAINFALL RATES TO NEAR FOUR INCHES DURING
THE PAST THREE HOURS.  AS RAINFALL CONTINUE FLOODING WILL BECOME MORE
WIDESPREAD ACROSS THE AREA.  REPORTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES HAVE BEEN RECEIVED
FROM THIS AREA THIS MORNING.
 
ADDITIONAL RAINFALL RATES TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR ARE POSSIBLE THROUGHOUT
THE MORNING.
 
MOTORIST TRAVELING HIGHWAY 35 SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION IN AREAS OF HEAVY
RAINFALL.
 
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ON THIS FLOODING
EPISODE.
 
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.
 
LENZ

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 Sep 22, 2:45 AM CDT, 6 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 22, 2:45 AM CDT, 6 hours 35 minutes before
COASTAL BEND FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
240 AM CDT MON SEP 22 1997

FFA TO REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE COASTAL BEND AND VCT AREAS FOR TDY.
HAVE ELECTED TO KEEP WRN AREAS OUT OF THE WATCH.  IR LOOP CONTINUES
TO SHOW ABUNDANT MOISTURE STREAMING IN FROM THE GULF.  PWS ARE
RUNNING HIGH AT 2.50 INCHES.  THE UPPER LOW IN THE WRN GULF IS BECMG
LESS APPARENT AND MODELS LOOSE THE FEATURE ALL TOGETHER AS INVERTED
TROF LINES UP ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE RIVER IN NXT 6-12HRS.  THIS
FEATURE MOVES SLOWLY EWD ACROSS THE AREA TDY AND STALLS OVER CRP-SAT
LINE BY MIDNIGHT TNGT.  THE ETA MODEL IS THE MODEL OF CHOICE AND
MAINTAINS HIGH QPF ALG H85-H7 MOISTURE AXIS NXT 48HRS...WHICH
INTERSECTS THE MID TX COAST BETWEEN RKP-PSX.  WITH THIS SCENARIO...
EXCESSIVE RAINFALL TOTALS WILL BE REALIZED ACROSS THE VCT AREA
EXTENDING UP INTO CNTRL TX.

88D CURRENTLY RUNNING TROPICAL Z-R RELATIONSHIP...AND HAS ESTIMATED
4-6 INCHES IN ARANSAS AND CALHOUN COUNTIES WITH ISOLATED 8 INCHES ALG
THE OUTER ISLAND.  RAINFALL WILL BE ENHANCED LATE THIS AFTN WHEN H5-
H3 TROF MOVES IN AND STALLS OVER THE MID COAST FROM NR CRP-SAT BY
MIDNIGHT TNGT.  EXCESSIVE RAINS WILL THEN OCCUR DURING THE OVERNIGHT
HOURS MON NIGHT PERSISTING THROUGH TUE.  THE WATCH WILL LIKELY BE
EXTENDED INTO TUE BUT ONLY INCLUDE THE VCT AREA...WE'LL SEE.

TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BELOW NORMAL NXT 2 DAYS WITH DENSE CLOUD
COVER AND RAINY WX PATTERN.  WINDS WILL BECME SE TDY AS TROF MOVES
OVHD.

/CRP/
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT TODAY...
.TDY...CLOUDY WITH 70% SHRA/TSRA...HVY RAFL POSSIBLE.  E WIND BECMG
SE NR 15 MPH THIS AFTN.
.TNGT...CLOUDY WITH 50% SHRA/TSRA.  LIGHT SE WINDS.
.TUE...CLOUDY WITH 40% SHRA/TSRA.  SE WINDS 10-15 MPH.

/VCT/
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT TODAY...
.TDY...CLOUDY WITH 80% SHRA/TSRA...HVY RAFL POSSIBLE.  E WINDS BECMG
SE 10-15 MPH THIS AFTN.
.TNGT...CLOUDY WITH 90% SHRA/TSRA...HVY RAFL POSSIBLE.  E-SE WINDS NR
10 MPH.
.TUE...CLOUDY WITH 90% SHRA/TSRA...HVY RAFL POSSIBLE.  E-SE WINDS 10-
15 MPH.

/LRD/
.TDY...CLOUDY WITH 40% SHRA/TSRA...LOCALLY HVY RAFL POSS.  E WIND
BECMG SE 10-15 MPH THIS AFTN.
.TNGT...CLOUDY WITH 30% SHRA/TSRA.  SE WINDS NR 10 MPH.
.TtUE...M/C WITH 30% SHRA/TSRA.

PRELIMS...

CRP TT 085/077 086/076 7544
NGP TT 082/078 084/078
VCT TT 084/073 084/073 8995
LRD CE 086/074 087/075 4333

JM...075

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.