Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 110, NWS Fort Worth, TX

May 15, 1997Tarrant County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 15, 1997, 9:27 AM CDT for Tarrant 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
May 15, 1997, 9:27 AM CDT (14:27 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1997, 12:30 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Tarrant County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 22 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:30 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

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 7 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1947 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 44 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1947 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
674 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
98 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFTW 151427
FFWFTW
TXC439-151730-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
927 AM CDT THU MAY 15 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...TARRANT COUNTY
 
AT 927 AM...A COMPLEX OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM NEAR
DENTON TO CROWLEY. THE MOST INTENSE PORTION OF THE STORMS WAS LOCATED
OVER TARRANT COUNTY.
 
SOME SECTIONS OF THE COUNTY WILL RECEIVE BETWEEN 2 AND 2 1/2 INCHES OF
RAIN PER HOUR. THIS WILL RESULT IN VERY QUICK AND DANGEROUS FLASH
FLOODING.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE 4WATER 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.  MOVE 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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 15, 5:35 AM CDT, 3 hours 52 minutes before
TXZ095-098>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-151830-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
535 AM CDT THU MAY 15 1997

...NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS NORTH TEXAS THROUGH
TONIGHT...

A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDED EAST-WEST ACROSS THE AREA...NEAR A
COMANCHE TO HILLSBORO TO PALESTINE LINE. A LARGE COMPLEX OF STORMS
MOVED INTO WESTERN SECTIONS OF NORTH TEXAS DURING THE EARLY MORNING
HOURS. THE REMNANTS OF THAT SYSTEM COMBINED WITH DAYTIME HEATING WILL
RESULT IN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY IN THE
VICINITY OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. WEAK LOW AND MID LEVEL WINDS AND
MARGINAL INSTABILITY SUGGEST THAT STORM ACTIVITY WILL REMAIN BELOW
SEVERE LEVELS TODAY AND TONIGHT.

68
Special weather statement, May 15, 5:36 AM CDT, 3 hours 51 minutes before
TXZ095-098>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-151830-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
535 AM CDT THU MAY 15 1997

...NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS NORTH TEXAS THROUGH
TONIGHT...

A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDED EAST-WEST ACROSS THE AREA...NEAR A
COMANCHE TO HILLSBORO TO PALESTINE LINE. A LARGE COMPLEX OF STORMS
MOVED INTO WESTERN SECTIONS OF NORTH TEXAS DURING THE EARLY MORNING
HOURS. THE REMNANTS OF THAT SYSTEM COMBINED WITH DAYTIME HEATING WILL
RESULT IN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY IN THE
VICINITY OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. WEAK LOW AND MID LEVEL WINDS AND
MARGINAL INSTABILITY SUGGEST THAT STORM ACTIVITY WILL REMAIN BELOW
SEVERE LEVELS TODAY AND TONIGHT.

68

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 4:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDStephens66 min
May 15, 9:44 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDDallas3 hr
May 15, 3:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDComanche55 min
May 15, 4:30 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDComanche60 min
May 15, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDComanche60 min
May 15, 5:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDAnderson58 min
May 15, 5:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHamilton67 min
May 15, 5:30 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDComanche2 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.