Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 170, NWS Fort Worth, TX

December 20, 1997McLennan County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this flash flood warning at Dec 20, 1997, 3:10 PM CST for McLennan 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
Dec 20, 1997, 3:10 PM CST (21:10 UTC)
Expired
Dec 20, 1997, 6:15 PM CST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

County McLennan County, TX

The radar

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 94 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:10 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, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 142 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 1997-12-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 41 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 1997-12-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 131 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
41 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
491 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
173 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 KFTW 202111
FFWFTW
TXC309-210015-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
310 PM CST SAT DEC 20 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...MCLENNAN COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN
HAS FALLEN ACROSS MUCH THE COUNTY SINCE NOON WITH 1.69 INCHES REPORTED
AT THE WACO AIRPORT. AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN IS EXPECTED
WHICH WILL PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER 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, Dec 20, 10:45 AM CST, 4 hours 25 minutes before
TXZ098>101-113>116-127>129-201800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
1045 AM CST SAT DEC 20 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE WIND ADVISORY ISSUED
EARLIER TODAY FOR NORTWEST PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS.

LAYERED CLOUDS AND OCCASIONAL RAIN WILL RETARD THE AMOUNT OF
ATMOSPHERIC MIXING THE REST OF TODAY AND WILL MINIMIZE THE THREAT OF
HIGH WINDS. HOWEVER...BOATERS ON AREA LAKES ARE STILL URGED TO
EXERCISE CAUTION AS WIND SPEEDS OF 15 MPH WILL AT TIMES GUSTS UP TO
25 MPH. THESE WIND SPEEDS WILL STILL MAKE LAKE WATERS CHOPPY AND
POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS.

LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
Special weather statement, Dec 20, 11:12 AM CST, 3 hours 58 minutes before
TXZ098>101-113>116-127>129-201800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
1045 AM CST SAT DEC 20 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE WIND ADVISORY ISSUED
EARLI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 20, 3:20 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDCoryell3 hr
Dec 20, 4:30 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDEllis, Hill3 hr
Dec 20, 5:16 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDBell3 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.