Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 79, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 13, 1997Chambers County, Galveston County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Oct 13, 1997, 6:32 AM CDT for Chambers County, Galveston County, Texas. It was in force for 4 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 13, 1997, 6:32 AM CDT (11:32 UTC)
Expired: Oct 13, 1997, 10:35 AM CDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area: Whole counties

Counties Chambers County, TX, Galveston County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 164 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 983 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 533 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 87 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 131136
FFWHOU
TXC039-071-167-291-373-407-131535-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
632 AM CDT MON OCT 13 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1035 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

   ...BRAZORIA COUNTY
   ...CHAMBERS COUNTY
   ...GALVESTON COUNTY
   ...LIBERTY COUNTY
   ...POLK COUNTY
   ...SAN JACINTO COUNTY

VERY HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES TO MOVE SLOWLY EAST AND WILL BE MOVING
ACROSS THESE COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS DURING THE MORNING HOURS.
RAINFALL RATES OF 1-2 INCHES PER HOUR HAS BEEN OBSERVED WITH
RAINFALL TOTALS OF 3-5 INCHES POSSIBLE BEFORE THE RAINS END LATE
THIS MORNING.

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 ABANDO0NED
QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE 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 Oct 13, 2:43 AM CDT, 3 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 13, 2:43 AM CDT, 3 hours 49 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
240 AM CDT MON OCT 13 1997

CDFNT ON THE MOVE. AT 2AM LCTD FM 30 NW OF CLL TO NR AUS TO SOUTH OF
OF DEL RIO MOVING AT 20 MPH. EXPECT CDFNT TO PUSH THRU CLL BTWN
08-09Z AND INTO INTERCONTINENTAL ARND 12-13Z AND OFF THE COAST
15-16Z. WILL NEED TO KEEP FFA UP FOR SRN ZNS THRU MON AM. EXPECT
DRIER AND MUCH COOLER TEMPS TO FILTER INTO REGION AFT FROPA. STILL
THINK THERE IS SLIGHT CHC OF SVR ALG SQUALL LINE MAINLY DUE TO STG
GUSTY WINDS WITH FAST MOVING TRW. NEED TO KEEP SVR IN ZNS AHD OF
CDFNT. SKIES SHOULD BECOME PTCLDY NW ZNS THIS AFTN AND CLR TONIGHT
ACRS REGION.
34

PRELIMS...
CLL E-B/V U/V 075/047 070/048 30P00 RAIN ENDING
IAH T-E/V U/V 078/050 071/048 +000 FFA AM/PSBL SVR AM
GLS T-E/V U/V 080/063 073/065 +000 FFA AM/PSBL SVR AM

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 13, 4:15 AM CDT, 2 hours 17 minutes before

TXZ178-179-199-200-210>214-226-227-235>238-131505-

SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY RAIN OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
415 AM CDT MON OCT 13 1997

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WITH POSSIBLE
FLASH FLOOD PRODUCING RAINFALL THIS MORNING GENERALLY SOUTH OF A
LIVINGSTON TO CONROE TO BELLVILLE LINE.

A COLD FRONT LOCATED ALONG A LINE FROM HUNTSVILLE TO BRENHAM WILL
MOVE SOUTHEAST THRU REMAINDER OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND OFF THE UPPER
TEXAS COAST BY NOON TODAY. THUNDERSTORMS WITH POSSIBLE DAMAGING
WINDS AND FLOOD PRODUCING RAIN WILL PRECEDE THE COLD FRONT THIS
MORNING.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY CONTAIN SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...DEADLY
LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE 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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 13, 2:56 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Austin, Colorado, Jackson	3 hr
Oct 13, 2:56 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Brazos, Grimes, Madison, Washington	3 hr
Oct 13, 2:56 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Burleson	3 hr
Oct 13, 3:37 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Waller	3 hr
Oct 13, 4:27 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Fort Bend, Harris, Wharton	4 hr
Oct 13, 4:27 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Montgomery, Walker	4 hr
Oct 13, 4:33 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Matagorda	4 hr
Oct 13, 5:56 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Jackson	119 min
Oct 13, 6:32 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Liberty, Polk, San Jacinto	4 hr
Oct 13, 6:32 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Brazoria	4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1997 Every 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.