Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 67, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

August 7, 1997Austin County, Washington County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Aug 7, 1997, 10:40 PM CDT for Austin County, Washington County, Texas. It was in force for 2 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
Aug 7, 1997, 10:40 PM CDT (03:40 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 1997, 12:45 AM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Austin County, TX, Washington County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 276 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 1997-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3436 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 1997-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 88 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
3436 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
996 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
8.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 080340
FFWHOU
TXC015-477-080545-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1040 PM CDT THU AUG 7 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...NORTHERN AUSTIN COUNTY
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...WASHINGTON COUNTY
 
AT 1037 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM CENTRAL WASHINGTON COUNTY JUST NORTH OF
BRENHAM TO NORTHWEST AUSTIN COUNTY NEAR SHELBY. DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES
AROUND 5 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE ALREADY FALLEN NEAR BRENHAM WITH TOTALS OF
AROUND 3 INCHES EXTENDING SOUTH AND WEST INTO NORTHERN AUSTIN COUNTY.
 
THE WASHINGTON COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED MOST OF THE LOWER-LYING
INTERSECTIONS UNDER WATER...WITH SEVERAL PEOPLE BEING PULLED OUT OF
VEHICLES.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO
RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH
FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD
WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER
BEGINS RISING.
 
RV/DB
 
&

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 Aug 7, 8:05 PM CDT, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 7, 8:05 PM CDT, 2 hours 35 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
750 PM CDT THU AUG 7 1997

CONVECTION STILL ONGOING OVR NW ZNS. CELL MERGER OVR BURLESON COUNTY
PRODUCED SVR TSTM. FNTL BOUNDARY EXTENDS ACROSS NRN ZNS TO CNTL TX
AND FURTHER SWD TO NR DRT. VORTEX MOVG ALONG FNT NEWD OVR CNTL TX
PRODUCING TSTMS AHEAD ALONG FNTL BOUNDARY WHERE ADAP SMC SHOWS VALUES
TO 54 G/KM/HR. OVR OTHER AREAS OF FA...CONVECTION ALMOST NIL. CURRENT
TREND OF TSTMS W OF FA SHOWS MOVMT TO E. EXPECT CONVECTION TO WEAKEN
SOMEWHAT DUE TO LACK OF DAYTIME HEATING.  HOWEVER...WEAK IMPULSE
MOVING ALG THE FNT MAY BE ENOUGH TO SUSTAIN.  WL ADJUST 1ST PD FCST
AS FOLLOWS...NO CHANGE FOR CLL VCNTY. LOWER IAH TO 30 PERCENT. GLS TO
20 PERCENT.

#37

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 7, 7:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBurleson41 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.