Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 111, NWS Fort Worth, TX
NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 15, 1997, 9:44 AM CDT for Dallas 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, 9:44 AM CDT (14:44 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 1997, 12:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Fort Worth, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Dallas County, TX
The radar
The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:47 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, 2.7 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFTW 151445 FFWFTW TXC113-151745- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 944 AM CDT THU MAY 15 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS ...DALLAS COUNTY AT 944 AM...A LARGE COMPLEX OF STORNG THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HEAVY RAINFALL WAS LOCATED IN EASTERN TARRANT COUNTY WITH THE LEADING EDGE OF THE RAIN NOW ENTERING THE WESTERN BORDER OF DALLAS COUNTY. WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAINFALL WILL COVER DALLAS COUNTY BY 1030 AM. RAINFALL RATES UP TO 3 INCHES PER HOUR WILL OCCUR WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. THIS INTENSE RAIN WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE FLASH FLOODING. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FLASH FLOODING HAS ALREADY OCCURRED IN PARTS OF TARRANT COUNTY. MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING 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.
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, 4 hours 9 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, 4 hours 8 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 4:39 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Stephens | 66 min |
| May 15, 9:27 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Tarrant | 3 hr |
| May 15, 3:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Comanche | 55 min |
| May 15, 4:30 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Comanche | 60 min |
| May 15, 4:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Comanche | 60 min |
| May 15, 5:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Anderson | 58 min |
| May 15, 5:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Hamilton | 67 min |
| May 15, 5:30 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Comanche | 2 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.