Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 14, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Mar 12, 1997, 2:10 AM CST for Wharton 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
- Mar 12, 1997, 2:10 AM CST (08:10 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 12, 1997, 5:15 AM CST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Wharton County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:14 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
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 204 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
- 8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -654 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 534 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 175 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 406 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 120813 COR FFWHOU TXC481-121115- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...COR EBS TO EAS... FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 210 AM CST WED MAR 12 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS ...WHARTON COUNTY AT 200 AM CST...THE DOPPLER RADAR IN HOUSTON INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING TO MOVE SLOWLY OVER THE SAME AREAS IN WHARTON COUNTY. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS FALLING FROM EAGLE LAKE IN COLORADO COUNTY TO NEAR EGYPT THEN BACK TO PIERCE AND EL CAMPO. RAINFALL ESTIMATES INDICATE THAT BETWEEN 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN PER HOUR WAS FALLING IN THIS AREA. THESE RAINFALL TOTALS WILL LIKELY CAUSE FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS AND NORMALLY FLOOD PRONE AREAS. PERSONS LIVING ALONG CREEKS...STREAMS AND TRIBUTARIES OF THE COLORADIO RIVER AND SAN BERNARD RIVER SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TONIGHT. 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.
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Mar 11, 7:52 PM CST, 6 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 11, 7:52 PM CST, 6 hours 18 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 751 PM CST TUE MAR 11 1997 CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS GOOD AS BIG BEND UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO EDGE THIS WAY. RADAR PICTURES SHOW ABUNDANT AREAS OF LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN ACROSS MOST OF S AND SE TX...WITH A GENERAL N TO NE MOVEMENT. EXPECT THESE RAINS TO GET THE GROUND WET DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. THEN...EXPECT ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OVERNIGHT ACROSS S TX AND MOVE TO THE N ACROSS THE AREA. AT THIS TIME...WILL WAIT AND SEE WHERE AND TO WHAT EXTENT THE NEW STORMS DEVELOP BEFORE ISSUING A FLASH FLOOD WATCH. THANKS CRP AND SAT FOR COORDINATION CALLS. OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES WILL REMA,IN IN THE MID TO UPPER 60S ACROSS THE AREA. 42
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Mar 11, 9:25 PM CST, 4 hours 45 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-121100- HEAVY RAINFALL OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 925 PM CST TUE MAR 11 1997 ...HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY... A HEAVY RAINFALL OUTLOOK REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS FOR TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. THE OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDES THE CITIES OF BRYAN/COLLEGE STATION...GALVESTON...AND THE HOUSTON METROPOLITAN AREA. THE COMMUNITIES OF EDNA...WHARTON...BRENHAM...CONROE... MADISONVILLE...HUNTSVILLE...LIBERTY...AND CROCKETT ARE ALSO IN THE OUTLOOK AREA. A WARM AND EXTREMELY MOIST ATMOSPHERE REMAINS IN PLACE OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS. AS AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE NEAR THE TEXAS BIG BEND SLOWLY TRACKS NORTHEAST THROUGH TEXAS ALONG A STATIONARY FRONT...MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS WILL DEVELOP THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS. AN EXPANDING AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS DEVELOPING BETWEEN SAN ANTONIO AND FREEPORT...AND IS MOVING TO THE NORTH AND NORTHEAST TOWARD SOUTHEAST TEXAS. WIDESPREAD RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF NEAR 1 INCH WILL BE LIKELY WITH ISOLATED TOTALS NEAR 3 INCHES POSSIBLE THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING. WITH THE GROUND OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS ALREADY SATURATED...ANY RAIN WILL RUN OFF AND POSSIBLY TRIGGER FLOODING OVER THE AREA. THE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR THE HILL COUNTRY AND PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND CENTRAL TEXAS. AT THIS TIME...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS NOT IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS...BUT ONE MAY BE REQUIRED FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. RESIDENTS ALONG MAJOR RIVERS AND TRIBUTARIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION. LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATORS NEED TO KEEP ABREAST OF THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION. FURTHER UPDATES WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER WEATHER NEWS SOURCES FOR FURTHER UPDATES.
Special weather statement, Mar 11, 9:26 PM CST, 4 hours 44 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-121100- HEAVY RAINFALL OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 925 PM CST TUE MAR 11 1997 ...HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY... A HEAVY RAINFALL OUTLOOK REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS FOR TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. THE OUTLOOK AREA INCLUDES THE CITIES OF BRYAN/COLLEGE STATION...GALVESTON...AND THE HOUSTON METROPOLITAN AREA. THE COMMUNITIES OF EDNA...WHARTON...BRENHAM...CONROE... MADISONVILLE...HUNTSVILLE...LIBERTY...AND CROCKETT ARE ALSO IN THE OUTLOOK AREA. A WARM AND EXTREMELY MOIST ATMOSPHERE REMAINS IN PLACE OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS. AS AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE NEAR THE TEXAS BIG BEND SLOWLY TRACKS NORTHEAST THROUGH TEXAS ALONG A STATIONARY FRONT...MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS WILL DEVELOP THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS. AN EXPANDING AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS DEVELOPING BETWEEN SAN ANTONIO AND FREEPORT...AND IS MOVING TO THE NORTH AND NORTHEAST TOWARD SOUTHEAST TEXAS. WIDESPREAD RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF NEAR 1 INCH WILL BE LIKELY WITH ISOLATED TOTALS NEAR 3 INCHES POSSIBLE THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING. WITH THE GROUND OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS ALREADY SATURATED...ANY RAIN WILL RUN OFF AND POSSIBLY TRIGGER FLOODING OVER THE AREA. THE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR THE HILL COUNTRY AND PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND CENTRAL TEXAS. AT THIS TIME...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS NOT IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS...BUT ONE MAY BE REQUIRED FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. RESIDENTS ALONG MAJOR RIVERS AND TRIBUTARIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION. LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATORS NEED TO KEEP ABREAST OF THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION. FURTHER UPDATES WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER ,WEATHER NEWS SOURCES FOR FURTHER UPDATES.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 1:44 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Colorado | 2 hr |
| Mar 12, 3:05 AM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Fort Bend | 40 min |
| Mar 12, 8:00 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Harris | 110 min |
| Mar 12, 9:48 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Harris | 3 hr |
| Mar 12, 12:50 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston, Harris | 24 hr |
| Mar 12, 12:55 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston, Harris | 3 hr |
| Mar 12, 3:55 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Harris | 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.