Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 87, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Dec 8, 1997, 12:31 AM CST for Galveston County, Texas. It was in force for 119 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
- Dec 8, 1997, 12:31 AM CST (06:31 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 8, 1997, 2:30 AM CST
- In force
- 119 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Galveston County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:32 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
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 180 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1270 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 356 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 565 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 080629 FFWHOU TXC167-080830- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1231 AM CST MON DEC 8 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ...GALVESTON COUNTY AT 1220 AM...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED FROM ALGOA TO DICKINSON TO BACLIFF. THIS LINE WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. VERY HEAVY RAINS IN EXCESS OF 1 1/2 INCHES PER HOUR WILL FALL OVER ALREADY SATURATED GROUNDS. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES WILL BE AFFECTING MAINLY SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF GALVESTON COUNTY. THESE RAINS WILL RUN-OFF QUICKLY INTO LOW-LYING AREAS...UNDERPASSES AND ROADWAYS. 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 ESCAPBE 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 Dec 7, 11:27 PM CST, 1 hour 4 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 7, 11:27 PM CST, 1 hour 4 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION ...CORRECTED TO ADD FOG NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1125 PM CST SUN DEC 7 1997 SVR THREAT HAS ENDED FOR THE LAND AREAS BUT THE STORMS OVER THE GULF HAVE HAD AT LEAST ONE TVS AND ARE STILL SHOWING STRONG ROTATIONAL SIGNATURES. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS DEVELOPING TO THE WEST WILL BE SPREADING ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF TONIGHT. AND A WARM FRONT ALONG A RICHMOND TO GALVESTON BAY TO NEAR BPT WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE FOCUS FOR HEAVY DOWNPOURS FROM SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. ATTM MY THINKING IS THE FRONT SHOULD SLOWLY PUSH SOUTHWARD WITH FOG AND CLOUDS FILLING IN ACROSS THE AREA. WILL UPDATE ZONES WITH THIS THINKING IN MIND. SEAS RUNNING NEAR 10 FEET WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY OF RELIEF THROUGH MONDAY MID-MORNING AS GRADIENT SHOULD SLOWLY BEGIN TO RELAX. 45 CLL WF/E A/B 049/072 050/072 6000 SHRA SHOWERS AND FOGGY IAH WF/E A/B 052/072 051/072 8000 SHRA SHOWERS AND FOGGY GLS T/C A/B 061/071 062/071 9200 TSRA (LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE IN WHARTON-FORT BEND-GLS-CHAMBERS-MATAGORDA-BRAZORIA)
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 7, 7:51 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 54 min |
| Dec 7, 8:40 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Chambers | 2 hr |
| Dec 7, 8:59 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers | 2 hr |
| Dec 7, 9:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Galveston | 66 min |
| Dec 7, 9:28 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 62 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.