Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 39, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

April 25, 1997Chambers County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Apr 25, 1997, 8:55 PM CDT for Chambers 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 25, 1997, 8:55 PM CDT (01:55 UTC)
Expired
Apr 26, 1997, 12:00 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Chambers County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:56 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, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 149 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-04-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-04-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 366 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
501 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
366 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
631 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 260153
FFWHOU
TXC071-260500-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
855 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR PEOPLE IN THE
FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

   ...CHAMBERS COUNTY
 
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO
MOVE THROUGH CHAMBERS COUNTY.  DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES BETWEEN 4 AND
6 INCHES OF RAIN OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF CHAMBERS COUNTY SINCE EARLY
AFTERNOON.  ANOTHER 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE THROUGH
MIDNIGHT.  LOOP 207 SOUTH AT FM 565 NEAR MONT BELVIEU IS CLOSED DUE
TO HIGH WATER.

BE &ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLASH FLOODING. IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.
MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO
FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

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 25, 8:15 PM CDT, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 25, 8:15 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
815 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

CURRENT WX SITUATION HAS KEPT ANALYSIS BRIEF AND STAFF VERY BUSY.
DANGEROUS FLOODING SITUATION FOR HOUSTON METRO AREA AS KHGX STP
INDICATES 6 TO 8 INCHES OF RAIN FROM DAYTON TO PEARLAND.  FCST
REMAINS BLEAK AS MORE RAIN AND THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WX CONTINUES.
WL LOWER POPS FOR CLL AREA TONITE AS EXPCT THEM TO BE JUST WEST OF
HVY RAIN AXIS.  NEW SVR TSTM WATCH ISSUED BY SPC TIL 2 AM.  WOULD NOT
BE SURPRISED IF AREA SEES A BRIEF BREAK TONIGHT BEFORE THE NEXT S/WV
ROTATING AROUND THE DEEP UPPER TROUGH APPROACHES SE TX AROUND 09Z SAT
AM.  WL CONT TO MONITOR COASTAL FLOODING...SO FAR THE
SITUATION HAS REMAINED MANAGEABLE.  OTHERWISE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION HAS
THINGS WELL IN HAND.

PRELIMS...
CLL T/T T/T  56/74/65/75  60/80/80/60
IAH T/T T/T  63/75/65/78 100/80/80/70
GLS T/T T/T  68/75/68/75 100/80/80/70

36/43

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 25, 8:24 PM CDT, 31 minutes before
TXZ211-237-210-227-213-200-511-236-199-179-178-212-226-214-238-
235-260730-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
824 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS
GENERALLY SOUTH OF A LIVINGSTON TO CONROE TO COLUMBUS LINE UNTIL 2AM
SATURDAY MORNING. THIS THUNDERSTORM WATCH REPLACES THE TORNADO WATCH
THAT EXPIRED AT 8PM.

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ARE INCLUDED IN THE WATCH
AREA. POLK...SAN JACINTO...MONTGOMERY...WALLER...AUSTIN...COLORADO...
JACKSON...WHARTON...FORT BEND...HARRIS...LIBERTY...CHAMBERS...
GALVESTON...BRAZORIA AND MATAGORDA COUNTIES OF TEXAS.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE CURRENTLY OCCURING GENERALLY EAST OF A LINE
FROM PALACIOS TO CONROE TO TRINITY. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE
THUNDERSTORMS IS HEAVY RAIN...POSSIBLE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.
ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED FURTHER WEST AND WILL MOVE INTO
WESTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS LATER TONIGHT.
Special weather statement, Apr 25, 8:25 PM CDT, 30 minutes before
TXZ211-237-210-227-213-200-511-236-199-179-178-212-226-214-238-
235-260730-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
824 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS
GENERALLY SOUTH OF A LIVINGSTON TO CONROE TO COLUMBUS LINE UNTIL 2AM
SATURDAY MORNING. THIS THUNDERSTORM WATCH REPLACES THE TORNADO WATCH
THAT EXPIRED AT 8PM.

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ARE INCLUDED IN THE WATCH
AREA. POLK...SAN JACINTO...MONTGOMERY...WALLER...AUSTIN...COLORADO...
JACKSON...WHARTON...FORT BEND...HARRIS...LIBERTY...CHAMBERS...
GALVESTON...BRAZORIA AND MATAGORDA COUNTIES OF TEXAS.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE CURRENTLY OCCURING GENERALLY EAST OF A LINE
FROM PALACIOS TO CONROE TO TRINITY. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE
THUNDERSTORMS IS HEAVY RAIN...POSSIBLE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.
ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED FURTHER WEST AND WILL MOVE INTO
WESTEJRN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS LATER TONIGHT.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 25, 8:08 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria, Galveston, Harris4 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.