Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 33, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Apr 11, 1997, 5:33 AM CDT for Galveston 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 11, 1997, 5:33 AM CDT (10:33 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 11, 1997, 8:30 AM CDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Galveston County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:35 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
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 180 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
- 22 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -81 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 946 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 11 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 108 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 111035 FFWHOU TXC167-111330- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 533 AM CDT FRI APR 11 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ...GALVESTON COUNTY AT 530 AM...A LARGE CLUSTER OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS OVER NORTHERN GALVESTON COUNTY - NORTH OF A LINE FROM HITCHCOCK TO TEXAS CITY. THESE STORM WERE MOVING SLOWLY TO THE EAST AT 10 MPH. RADAR ESTIMATES RAINFALL RATES OF 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN PER HOUR WITH THESE STORMS. THIS IS A DANGEROUS FLOOD SITUATION. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS *OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR UNDERPASSES. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP 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 Apr 11, 2:46 AM CDT, 2 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 11, 2:46 AM CDT, 2 hours 47 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION ...MORE ON SECOND PAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 245 AM CDT FRI APR 11 1997 ...VERY DANGEROUS FLOODING SITUTATION UNDERWAY... MCS THAT MOVED INTO THE SW ZONES SHOULD SLOW IN ITS NORTHEASTWARD MOVEMENT AND BEGIN TO TURN MORE EAST AFTER 3 AM. LOW LEVEL/MESOSCALE FEATURES INDICATING THAT SIGNIFICANT TRAINING WILL BE A PROBLEM THROUGH 12Z. AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF IT APPEARS FROM WATER VAPOR THAT OUTFLOW JET BECOMING PRONOUNCED ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE COMPLEX HELPING IN THE ORGANIZATION. RADAR ALREADY INDICATING STORM TOTAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF AROUND 5 INCHES NEAR EL CAMPO AND 9 TO 10 INCHES NEAR HALLETSVILLE! (SOME OF THE PRECIP OVER THESE AREAS MAY BE GETTING SOME HAIL CONTAMINATION...ALTHOUGH SO FAR NO GROUNDTRUTH BACK OF HAIL WITH THESE STORMS.) ALSO OF NOTE THE VERY STRONG MESO ALONG THE SLOW MOVING PSEUDO WARM FRONT OVER WATER. AT THIS RATE NOT ONLY WILL WE HAVE FLOODING PROBLEMS BUT SEVERE AS WELL. WILL NEED TO EXPAND FFA A LITTLE FURTHER NORTH AND MUCH FURTHER EAST AND ADD MENTION OF SEVERE FOR A LARGE PART OF THE AREA...ALTHOUGH THE SPEED SHEAR IS NOT TREMENDOUS THE TURNING IS IMPRESSIVE AND THE CAPE IS RATHER APPARENT BY LOOKING AT THE REFLECTIVITY MAXIMA ALOFT A NUMBER OF STORMS DEVELOPING STRONG MESOS OVER THE SW ZONES. LATEST 3HR PRECIP ESTIMATES RUNNING IN EXCESS OF 7 INCHES. ........................................................... 245 AM COMPLEX MOVING SLOWLY NORTH WITH DEVELOPMENT ALONG THE EASTERN FLANK. WILL RUN FFA SOUTH OF A BRENHAM TO CONROE TO LIBERTY LINE. ON DOWN THE ROAD AFTER THIS FIRST COMPLEX SHIFTS EAST THIS MORNING IT LOOKS AS THOUGH UPPER SUPPORT REMAINS FAVORABLE FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON SOME SEVERE AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE. THE FRONT WILL BE SWEEPING THE AREA OUT AND PRODUCING GUSTS NEAR GALE OVER THE NEARSHORE WATERS AROUND 01Z. MAY BECOME PARTLY CLUODY BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. CURSORY LOOK AT NUMBERS FOLLOWS CLL 78/47/62/46 5200 IAH 79/51/64/46 7300 GLS 77/59/66/56 8500
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 10, 10:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Matagorda | 59 min |
| Apr 10, 11:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Wharton | 65 min |
| Apr 11, 12:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Wharton | 60 min |
| Apr 11, 1:07 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Wharton | 118 min |
| Apr 11, 1:40 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Wharton | 65 min |
| Apr 11, 2:04 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Fort Bend | 61 min |
| Apr 11, 2:28 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Fort Bend, Wharton | 3 hr |
| Apr 11, 2:28 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 62 min |
| Apr 11, 2:40 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Wharton | 65 min |
| Apr 11, 2:58 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Fort Bend | 62 min |
| Apr 11, 3:42 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Matagorda, Wharton | 33 min |
| Apr 11, 3:59 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 61 min |
| Apr 11, 4:08 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 3 hr |
| Apr 11, 4:22 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Galveston | 68 min |
| Apr 11, 5:23 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Matagorda | 67 min |
| Apr 11, 5:26 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Galveston | 64 min |
| Apr 11, 5:27 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 63 min |
| Apr 11, 5:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 60 min |
| Apr 11, 9:24 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Wharton | 4 hr |
| Apr 11, 3:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 60 min |
| Apr 11, 4:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris, Montgomery | 65 min |
| Apr 11, 5:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Liberty | 64 min |
| Apr 11, 5:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 58 min |
| Apr 11, 6:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Harris | 49 min |
| Apr 11, 6:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers | 60 min |
| Apr 11, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 32 min |
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.