Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 53, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

June 6, 1997Colorado County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Jun 6, 1997, 8:54 PM CDT for Colorado 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
Jun 6, 1997, 8:54 PM CDT (01:54 UTC)
Expired
Jun 6, 1997, 11:50 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Colorado County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:57 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, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 225 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 1997-06-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2334 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 1997-06-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -9 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
2334 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
818 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
5 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 070153
FFWHOU
TXC089-070450-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
854 PM CDT FRI JUN 6 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1150 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

   ...COLORADO COUNTY
 
AT 845 PM...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINS CONTINUES FROM
EAGLE LAKE TO LA GRANGE. RAINFALL RATES AS HIGH AS 3 INCHES AN HOUR
WAS INDICATED BY RADAR FROM THESE STORMS. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS TO
5 INCHES WAS ALSO NEAR EAGLE LAKE TO COLUMBUS SINCE 4 PM. 

ADDTIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL IS EXPECTED AS STRONG STORMS FROM LAVACA
COUNTY MOVE INTO COLORADO COUNTY MERGING WITH PRESENT STORMS.

DPS OFFICER IN COLUMBUS REPORTED WATER LEVELS RISING TO SLAB LEVELS
AT SOME HOUSES IN COLUMBUS. ROADWAYS ARE BECOMING IMPASSABLE IN
PARTS OF THE 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.

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jun 6, 8:01 PM CDT, 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 6, 8:01 PM CDT, 53 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
745 PM CDT FRI JUN 6 1997

CONVECTION FAIRLY ACTIVE MNLY W OF A WHARTON...RICHMOND...CLL LINE
W/STRONGEST ACTIVITY BETWN BRENHAM AND COLUMBUS. VIL LVLS HAVE BEEN
GRAD DROPPING TO THE MID/UPPER 20S. BOTH LCH/CRP SOUNDING SHOWS
PWS NR 2 INCHES. MESO-ETA SHOWS WEAK IMPULSE MOVG ACRS LA TONITE
WHILE OUR RGN BASICALLY UNDER UPPER LVL SHEAR ZONE. AM NOT SURE HOW
LONG CONVECTION WL LAST OVR WRN ZONES...BUT EXPECT WEAKENING THE NEXT
FEW HOURS.

ZNS (1ST PD) SHOULD BE TAILORED TO REFLECT CONVECTION
CURRENTLY WRN PART OF FA (ZNS 195>198-210>212). RECOMMEND 70
PERCENT POPS (MNLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT)  FOR AFOREMENTIONED ZNS.

NO OTHER CHANGES FOR NOW. #37

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 6, 11:42 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXColorado3 hr
Jun 7, 3:12 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXAustin, Washington3 hr
Jun 7, 6:38 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXColorado37 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.