Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 79, NWS Fort Worth, TX
NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this flash flood warning at Apr 4, 1997, 8:57 AM CST for Dallas County, Johnson County, 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
- Apr 4, 1997, 8:57 AM CST (14:57 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 4, 1997, 12:00 PM CST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Fort Worth, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Dallas County, TX, Johnson County, TX, Tarrant County, TX
The radar
The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 17 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:01 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
Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 288 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
- 78 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -46 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 490 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 267 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 300 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFTW 041457 FFWFTW TXC113-251-439-041800- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 857 AM CST FRI APR 4 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL NOON CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS ...DALLAS COUNTY...JOHNSON COUNTY...TARRANT COUNTY AT 857 AM CST...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES PER HOUR ARE LIKELY OVER THE WARNED COUNTIES DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AS SOME OF THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. SEVERAL COUNTY ROADS HAVE ALREADY BEEN FLOODED BY HEAVY RAIN IN PORTIONS OF JOHNSON COUNTY. 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, Apr 4, 5:15 AM CST, 3 hours 42 minutes before
TXZ091>095-098>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-041730- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 515 AM CST FRI APR 4 1997 ...THERE IS SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT... THE UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE SOUTHWEST UNITED STATES WAS FINALLY MOVING EASTWARD THIS MORNING. DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE WAS IN PLACE ACROSS NORTH TEXAS WHERE SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALREADY IN PROGRESS. AS THE LOW APPROACHES...COOLER TEMPERATURES ALOFT WILL FURTHER DESTABILIZE THE ATMOSPHERE. FURTHERMORE...THE VERTICAL WIND PROFILE WILL STRENGTHEN AND PROVIDE FOR INCREASED ORGANIZATION OF STORMS. THE MAIN THREAT THIS MORNING WILL BE FROM HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE FLOODING...PARTICULARLY ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN AREAS OF NORTH TEXAS. AS THE LOW AND PACIFIC FRONT APPROACHES...THE SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL WILL INCREASE WITH STORMS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS WESTERN AREAS THIS AFTERNOON AND THEN MOVE ACROSS NORTH TEXAS IN THE FORM OF A SQUALL LINE TONIGHT. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT. THE POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING WILL CONTINUE OVER THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN AREAS OF NORTH TEXAS WHERE THE GROUND WILL ALREADY BE SATURATED FROM OVERNIGHT AND MORNING RAINFALL. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD BE READY FOR LIMITED ACTIVATION THIS MORNING. MORE WIDESPREAD ACTIVATION WILL BE REQUIRED BY MID AFTERNOON WEST OF A GRAHAM TO GOLDTHWAITE LINE...BY LATE AFTERNOON WEST OF A GAINESVILLE TO FORT WORTH TO KILLEEN LINE...BY THE EARLY AND MID EVENING HOURS WEST OF A BONHAM TO KAUFMAN TO FRANKLIN LINE...AND LATE EVENING WEST OF A PARIS TO CENTERVILLE LINE. IN ADDITION...A VERY TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT IS EXPECTED IN THE WAKE OF THE PACIFIC COLD FRONT. SOUTHWEST AND WEST WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL INCREASE DRAMATICALLY DURING THE DAY SATURDAY AND CURRENT FORECAST WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH AND GUSTY MAY NEED TO BE UPGRADED. PERSONS PLANNING ANY TYPE OF OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES SATURDAY SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER FORECASTS AND PREPARE FOR VERY STRONG WINDS. 68
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 5:28 AM CST, 3 hours 29 minutes before
TXZ091>095-098>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-041730- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 515 AM CST FRI APR 4 1997 ...THERE IS SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT... THE UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE SOUTHWEST UNITED STATES WAS FINALLY MOVING EASTWARD THIS MORNING. DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE WAS IN PLACE ACROSS NORTH TEXAS WHERE SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALREADY IN PROGRESS. AS THE LOW APPROACHES...COOLER TEMPERATURES ALOFT WILL FURTHER DESTABILIZE THE ATMOSPHERE. FURTHERMORE...THE VERTICAL WIND PROFILE WILL STRENGTHEN AND PROVIDE FOR INCREASED ORGANIZATION OF STORMS. THE MAIN THREAT THIS MORNING WILL BE FROM HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE FLOODING...PARTICULARLY ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN AREAS OF NORTH TEXAS. AS THE LOW AND PACIFIC FRONT APPROACH...THE SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL WILL INCREASE WITH STORMS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS WESTERN AREAS THIS AFTERNOON AND THEN MOVE ACROSS NORTH TEXAS IN THE FORM OF A SQUALL LINE TONIGHT. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT. THE POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING WILL CONTINUE OVER THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN AREAS OF NORTH TEXAS WHERE THE GROUND WILL ALREADY BE SATURATED FROM OVERNIGHT AND MORNING RAINFALL. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD BE READY FOR LIMITED ACTIVATION THIS MORNING. MORE WIDESPREAD ACTIVATION WILL BE REQUIRED BY MID AFTERNOON WEST OF A GRAHAM TO GOLDTHWAITE LINE...BY LATE AFTERNOON WEST OF A GAINESVILLE TO FORT WORTH TO KILLEEN LINE...BY THE EARLY AND MID EVENING HOURS WEST OF A BONHAM TO KAUFMAN TO FRANKLIN LINE...AND LATE EVENING WEST OF A PARIS TO CENTERVILLE LINE. IN ADDITION...A VERY TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT IS EXPECTED IN THE WAKE OF THE PACIFIC COLD FRONT. SOUTHWEST AND WEST WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL INCREASE DRAMATICALLY DURING THE DAY SATURDAY AND CURRENT FORECAST WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH AND GUSTY MAY NEED TO BE UPGRADED. PERSONS PLANNING ANY TYPE OF OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES SATURDAY SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER FORECASTS AND PREPARE FOR VERY STRONG WINDS. 68
The office that day
Everything else NWS Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 4, 2:35 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Limestone, Robertson | 55 min |
| Apr 4, 2:35 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Limestone, Robertson | 55 min |
| Apr 4, 8:23 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Bell, Falls, McLennan | 4 hr |
| Apr 4, 9:24 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Limestone | 3 hr |
| Apr 4, 9:57 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Ellis, Navarro | 3 hr |
| Apr 4, 10:20 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Hunt, Kaufman, Rockwall | 3 hr |
| Apr 4, 10:52 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Bell | 68 min |
| Apr 4, 11:30 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Ellis | 2 hr |
| Apr 4, 11:40 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Falls | 65 min |
| Apr 4, 11:45 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Bell, Falls | 3 hr |
| Apr 4, 11:45 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Limestone | 3 hr |
| Apr 4, 12:17 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Limestone | 58 min |
| Apr 4, 12:22 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Hopkins | 2 hr |
| Apr 4, 1:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Palo Pinto | 44 min |
| Apr 4, 1:05 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Hunt | 2 hr |
| Apr 4, 1:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Parker | 59 min |
| Apr 4, 1:27 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Eastland | 48 min |
| Apr 4, 1:32 PM CST | Tornado Warning | FWD | Parker | 43 min |
| Apr 4, 2:18 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Comanche, Erath | 57 min |
| Apr 4, 3:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Parker | 57 min |
| Apr 4, 3:10 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Parker | 2 hr |
| Apr 4, 3:13 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Erath | 62 min |
| Apr 4, 3:23 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Hood | 67 min |
| Apr 4, 4:18 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Cooke, Grayson | 27 min |
| Apr 4, 4:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Denton | 49 min |
| Apr 4, 4:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Tarrant | 57 min |
| Apr 4, 4:40 PM CST | Tornado Warning | FWD | Denton, Grayson | 50 min |
| Apr 4, 5:15 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Tarrant | 2 hr |
| Apr 4, 5:32 PM CST | Tornado Warning | FWD | Coryell, Lampasas | 28 min |
| Apr 4, 5:54 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Bell | 3 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.