Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Feb 20, 1997, 1:47 PM CST for Austin County, Texas. It was in force for 118 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 20, 1997, 1:47 PM CST (19:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 20, 1997, 3:45 PM CST
- In force
- 118 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Austin County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:43 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 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 261 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
- 703 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -29 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 514 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 163 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 211 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.5
- Supercell composite
- 2.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 201944 FFWHOU TXC015-202145- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 147 PM CST THU FEB 20 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS ...AUSTIN COUNTY AT 135 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT 1 TO 1.5 INCHES OF RAIN HAD FALLEN IN THE PAST HOUR. ANOTHER BAND OF VERY HEAVY RAIN APPROACHING FROM THE SOUTHWEST WILL PRODUCE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES IN THE NEXT TWO HOURS. AUSTIN COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED MILLS CREEK WAS RISING AND WATER WAS COVERING HIGHWAY 109 BETWEEN INDUSTRY AND NEW ULM. 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 Feb 20, 9:21 AM CST, 4 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 20, 9:21 AM CST, 4 hours 26 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 918 AM CST THU FEB 20 1997 SATL PLACES THE UPR LOW NR THE BIG BEND AREA AT THIS HR...WHILE THE LATEST SFC ANALYSIS LOCATES THE SFC FEATURE IN THE HILL COUNTRY. LATEST WV LOOPS ALSO SHOW QUITE A BIT OF DRY AIR ADVECTING INTO SETX AT THE MID LVLS. THE 12Z RUN OF THE ETA CONTS THE TREND OF PLACING THE BEST LIFT AND DYNAMICS OVR N TX...THO SETX WL STILL SEE ITS FAIR SHARE OF TSTMS. HELICITY VALUES AT CRP WERE NR 300...AND COUPLING THIS WITH THE CAPE OF OVR 700 STG TSTMS LOOK TO BE ALMOST A GIVEN. AGREE WITH THE SPC OUTLOOK OF SLGT CHC FOR SVR FOR THE SAME REASONS. THE MESO ETA RUN FM 00Z AGREES FAIRLY GOOD WITH THE 12Z ETA RUN IN ENDING THE PCPN CHCS SHORTLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT AT IAH...AND THE WORST WX MAY OCCUR MORE TWD THIS EVE THAN DURG THE MAJORITY OF THE AFTERNOON. FAVORED THICKNESSES ARE OVR THE FCST AREA BY 00Z CONTG THE CONCERNS FOR HVY PRECIP. SEA lFOG PROBLEMS NR THE CST ARE XPCD TO IMPROVE SLIGHTLY AS THE INSTABILITY OVR THE WATER INCREASES THRU THE DAY AS MANIFESTED BY THE INCREASING WND SPDS. TEMPS OK XCP IN THE CLL ZNE WHERE HIGHS SHUD REACH INTO THE LWR 70S. 40
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Feb 20, 10:52 AM CST, 2 hours 55 minutes before
TXZ176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-202335- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1052 AM CST THU FEB 20 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED TWO TORNADO WATCHES EFFECTIVE UNTIL 5 PM FOR MOST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREAS INCLUDE: AUSTIN...BRAZORIA...BRAZOS...BURLESON...CHAMBERS...COLORADO...FORT BEND...GALVESTON...GRIMES...HARRIS...JACKSON...LIBERTY...MADISON... MATAGORDA...MONTGOMERY...POLK...SAN JACINTO...WALKER...WALLER... WASHINGTON...AND WHARTON COUNTIES INCLUDING THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. THE WATCH ALSO INCLUDES MILAM...LEON... AND ROBERTSON COUNTIES IN CENTRAL TEXAS. REMEMBER A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND TORNADOES TO FORM IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA ARE URGED TO MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER THREATEN THE AREA. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
Special weather statement, Feb 20, 10:57 AM CST, 2 hours 50 minutes before
TXZ176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-202335- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1052 AM CST THU FEB 20 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED TWO TORNADO WATCHES EFFECTIVE UNTIL 5 PM FOR MOST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREAS INCLUDE: AUSTIN...BRAZORIA...BRAZOS...BURLESON...CHAMBERS...COLORADO...FORT BEND...GALVESTON...GRIMES...HARRIS...JACKSON...LIBERTY...MADISON... MATAGORDA...MONTGOMERY...POLK...SAN JACINTO...WALKER...WALLER... WASHINGTON...AND WHARTON COUNTIES INCLUDING THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. THE WATCH ALSO INCLUDES MILAM...LEON... AND ROBERTSON COUNTIES IN CENTRAL TEXAS. REMEMBER A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND TORNADOES TO FORM IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA ARE URGED TO MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER THREATEN THE AREAf. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 3:05 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Austin, Colorado, Washington | 3 hr |
| Feb 20, 3:05 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazos, Burleson | 3 hr |
| Feb 20, 3:44 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Grimes | 3 hr |
| Feb 20, 3:59 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Madison | 2 hr |
| Feb 20, 4:04 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Waller | 116 min |
| Feb 20, 4:25 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Montgomery, Walker | 3 hr |
| Feb 20, 4:25 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Houston | 3 hr |
| Feb 20, 4:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Fort Bend, Harris | 58 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.