Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 69, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 11, 1997Matagorda County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Oct 11, 1997, 11:00 AM CDT for Matagorda 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
Oct 11, 1997, 11:00 AM CDT (16:00 UTC)
Expired
Oct 11, 1997, 1:00 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Matagorda County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 176 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 12:00Z on 1997-10-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 915 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 12:00Z on 1997-10-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -17 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
915 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
537 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
0 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
117 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 111603
FFWHOU
TXC321-111800-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1100 AM CDT SAT OCT 11 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...WESTERN MATAGORDA COUNTY
 
AT 1055 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE
OF HEAVY RAINS EXTENDING FROM MATAGORDA BAY NORTH-NORTHWEST ACROSS
PALACIOS TO BLESSING AND MIDFIELD. THIS AREA OF SHOWERS AND EMBEDDED
THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING SLOWY TO THE EAST AT 10 MPH. RADAR ESTIMATES
FROM 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS ALREADY FALLEN IN THE PALACIOS AREA THIS
MORNING. WITH THE MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS MOVING OVER THE SAME
AREAS...WATER WILL RUNOFF ALREADY SATURATED GROUNDS FLOODING LOW LYING
AREAS AND ROADWAYS QUICKLY.
 
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 Oct 11, 9:52 AM CDT, 1 hour 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 11, 9:52 AM CDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION ...CORRECTED FOR CFW...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
952 AM CDT SAT OCT 11 1997

BAND(S) OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA
THIS MORNING.  THIS PCPN LOOKS TO BE ASSOCAITED WITH A WEAK S/W EM-
BEDDED IN THE FLOW ALOFT AND SEEMS TO BE MOVING ON A STEADY CLIP TO
THE NE.  RAINFALL RATES HAVE BEEN AOA 1/2 TO 1...BUT RAINFALL OVER
OUR SRN COUNTIES HAVE BEEN HIGHER (2/HR).  AS SUCH...AM A BIT CON-
CERNED AS THESE AREAS (JACKSON/MATAGORDA/WHARTON) HAVE BEEN GETTING
THE BRUNT OF THE RAINS DURING THIS EVENT.  LOOKING AT RADAR LOOPS..
MORE RAINS LIKELY AS ECHOES WORK SLOWLY UP FROM THE MIDDLE TX COAST.
WOULD LIKE TO RE-ISSUE THE FFA FOR SSWRN PORTIONS OF OUR FA AS WELL
AS BUMPING POPS UP REGIONWIDE.  CFW STILL LOOKS GOOD AND NO CHANGES
WITH THAT.  PLEASE REFER TO PRELIMS BELOW FOR THE DIVISIONS/DETAILS.
41

PRELIMS...
----------
CLL C/C/T/T  83/74 83/72 5367
 (BRAZOS/BURLSN/GRIMES/MADSN/POLK/SANJAC/WALKER/WASH)

IAH C/C/T/T  83/73 83/74 6367
 (AUSTIN/HARRIS/LIBRTY/MONTGMRY/WALLER) - LOCALLY HVY RAIN TODAY

GLS C/C/C/T  82/78 82/78 6356
 (GALVESTN/CHAMBERS) - CFW, LOCALLY HVY RAIN TODAY

SWN C/C/C/T  81/76 82/76 8456
 (COLORADO/FTBEND/WHARTON) - FFA TODAY

PSX C/C/C/T 81/76 82/76 8456
 (BRAZORIA/JACKSON/MATAGORDA) - FFA, CFW TODAY

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.