Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 15, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

April 2, 1997Uvalde County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this flash flood warning at Apr 2, 1997, 5:31 PM CST for Uvalde County, Texas. It was in force for 119 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 2, 1997, 5:31 PM CST (23:31 UTC)
Expired
Apr 2, 1997, 7:30 PM CST
In force
119 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Uvalde County, TX

The radar

The Laughlin AFB radar (KDFX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:35 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

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 104 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-04-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 158 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-04-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 87 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
158 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-257 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
527 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
135 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 KSAT 022334
FFWSAT
TXC463-030130-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
531 PM CST WED APR 2 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...UVALDE COUNTY
 
DOPPLER RADAR HAS INDICATED OVER 2.5 INCHES OF RAIN IN THE PAST THREE
HOURS NEAR GARNER STATE PARK WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING
OVER THAT AREA. AN OBSERVER AT CONCAN REPORTED 2 INCH OF RAIN FALLEN IN
JUST OVER 2 HOURS...AND THE DRY FRIO RIVER WAS NEAR BANKFULL.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IMMINENT.
MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS BRIDGES...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 DURING THREATENING RAINS.
 
AVOID ALREADY FLOODED AREAS.  TRAVELERS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS FLOODED ROADS.  IF YOUR VEHICLE STALLS...LEAVE IT AND MOVE
IMMEDIATELY TO HIGHER GROUND IF YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY.

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.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 2, 3:30 PM CST, 2 hours 1 minute before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TEXAS
330 PM CST WED APR 02 1997

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0300 PM                              TX   FLOODING
04/02/97   ATASCOSA                       SEVERAL FARM-TO-MARKET
                                          ROADS UNDER WATER IN THE
                                          WESTERN PART OF COUNTY

0200 PM                              TX   FLOODING
04/02/97   KARNES                         4 INCHES OF RAIN IN ONE
                                          HOUR IN RUNGE.  SOME ROADS
                                          CLOSURES DUE TO FLOODING

0300 PM                              TX   FLOODING
04/02/97   DEWITT                         CATHOLIC CHURCH ROAD NEAR
                                          WESTHOFF CLOSED
Special weather statement, Apr 2, 5:30 PM CST, 1 minute before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-031200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
530 PM CST WED APR 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR SOUTH
CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY.

THE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR TONIGHT AND THURSDAY...AND INCLUDES THE
METROPOLITAN AREAS OF AUSTIN...SAN ANTONIO...DEL RIO...AND KERRVILLE.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR HEAVY
RAIN...FLASH FLOODING...AND RIVER FLOODING IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA.

A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WAS CENTERED NEAR SAN DIEGO...
CALIFORNIA.  THE ATMOSPHERE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE HILL
COUNTRY REMAINS UNUSUALLY RICH IN MOISTURE FROM BOTH THE GULF OF
MEXICO AND THE PACIFIC OCEAN.  THE STORM SYSTEM WILL SEND A SERIES
OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES EASTWARD TOWARD AND ACROSS TEXAS TONIGHT
AND THURSDAY.  THESE DISTURBANCES WILL INTERACT WITH THE MOIST AND
UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE TO PRODUCE NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.

HEAVY RAIN IS DEVELOPING AND WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT
INTO THURSDAY PRODUCING AVERAGE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES
WITH ISOLATED TOTALS OVER 5 INCHES.

AREAS WET FROM RECENT HEAVY RAINS ARE AT PRIME RISK OF FLOODING AS
HEAVY RAIN DEVELOPS.

MOTORISTS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO DRIVE CAREFULLY IF THUNDERSTORMS
AND VERY HEAVY RAIN DEVELOP.  FLOODING IS LIKELY LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT.  RAPID RISES AND FLOODING ARE POSSIBLE NEAR LOW WATER
CROSSINGS.

THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NORMALLY WILL BE UPDATED BY MEANS OF
THE ZONE FORECASTS...SHORT TERM FORECASTS...WATCHES...WARNINGS AND
ADVISORIES.  THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK ITSELF WILL BE UPDATED
ONLY IF UNFORECAST HAZARDOUS WEATHER DEVELOPS OR IF FORECAST
HAZARDOUS WEATHER NO LONGER IS EXPECTED.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 2, 11:42 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningEWXKarnes2 hr
Apr 2, 12:40 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningEWXDeWitt3 hr
Apr 2, 1:59 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningEWXAtascosa, Karnes3 hr
Apr 2, 1:59 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningEWXMedina3 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.