Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 8, NWS Brownsville, TX

October 18, 1998Starr County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this flash flood warning at Oct 18, 1998, 6:00 PM CDT for Starr 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
Oct 18, 1998, 6:00 PM CDT (23:00 UTC)
Expired
Oct 18, 1998, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Starr County, TX

The radar

The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 150 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:59 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

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 152 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-10-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1671 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-10-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -5 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
1671 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
699 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
61 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 KBRO 182309
FFWBRO
TXC427-190210-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
600 PM CDT SUN OCT 18 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  STARR COUNTY IN SOUTHERN TEXAS

* UNTIL 900 PM CDT

* AT 550 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER STARR COUNTY... MOVING
  SLOWLY EAST.

* THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN EXTENDED FOR STARR COUNTY IN DEEP
  SOUTH TEXAS DUE TO HEAVY RAINS CONTINUING OVER RIO GRANDE CITY AND
  SURROUNDING AREAS. THERE HAS BEEN EVACUATIONS IN MANY AREAS AROUND
  RIO GRANDE CITY.

DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD!

* 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 WHENF WATER BEGINS RISING. IT IS VERY DIFFICULT
AT NIGHT TO TELL HOW MUCH WATER IS ON ROADS. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT
DRIVE THROUGH WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH.

GF

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 Brownsville, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Oct 18, 1:35 PM CDT, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 18, 1:35 PM CDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
135 PM CDT SUN OCT 18 1998

PER CONVERSATION WITH MET FM SAT AT 1215 PM THIS AFTERNOON...WL PLACE
ALL OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS UNDER FFA. WHILE AREAS TO THE NE HAVE BEEN THE
FOCUS FOR THIS RA EVENT...DEEP SOUTH TEXAS HAS SLOWLY BEEN COLLECTING
1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAFL OVR THE PAST 24H...WITH AN EXTENTION OF THE HVY
RA NEAR SAT CUTTING SW INTO OLE MEX NOW. CDFNT THRU LRD AND CURRENT
PROGS DIFFER ON FURTHER SWRD ADVANCEMENT. ETA HAS SFC WINDS BACKING FM
THE S TO THE NE THRU 48H. NGM KEEPS SFC WINDS SE ALL DAY MONDAY...
BACKING WINDS TO THE E AND NE TUE. UPSTREAM RADAR AT KDFX SHOWS
CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF SHRAS WITH A FEW EMBEDDED TSRAS INTO MEX WITH
A LARGE AREA OF MOD TO HVY SHRAS W-NE OF LRD AND ADVANCING SLOWLY SE.
ALL MDLS FEATURE THE WRN VLY AS HOT SPOT FOR HVY RAFL BEGINNING TONIGHT
THRU ALL OF MON. ON OCT 13T...THE VLY RECEIVED COPIOUS AMOUNTS
OF RAFL WITH FFW ISSUED FOR KENEDY AND WILLACY. GROUND WL NOT
HOLD MUCH WATER AND HVY RAFL IS LIKELY. MUST MONITOR SITUATION CLOSELY
DURING THE NEXT 12 T0 24H AND NOT BE TOO CONSERVATIVE ON ISSUANCE OF
ANY WARNINGS SHUD HVY RA MATERIALIZE. S JIM WELLS AND NRN BROOKS NOW
BEING FLAGGED BY SPENES WITH 1-2 INCHES PER HOUR RATES AND 3 INCH
TOTALS FM 1415-1715Z. INFORMED BY CRP THAT RADARS UNDERESTIMATING
RAFL AND A HAIR TRIGGER FOR WARNING MAY BE IN ORDER.

PLENTY OF MOISTURE PROGGED TO CONTINUE IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS THRU FCST
PD AND EXTENDED. COLDEST AIR OF THE SEASON SET FOR ARRIVAL WED...WITH
HIGH TEMPS FALLING INTO THE 60S BY THU AND LOWS IN THE 40S AND 50S
THU THRU SUN. WL FOLLOW AVN NUMBERS...AS NGM MOS WAY TOO HIGH AND
MISSES CAA AND LIKELIHOOD OF OVC CONDITIONS. XPCT CD AIR ENTRY OVRNGT.

CWF...CURRENT TREND LOOKING ON TARGET WITH SCA FLAG FLYING. EXTENDED
GOOD WITH EXTENTION OF THU WX INTO FRI. 58

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS THROUGH MON...

.TONIGHT...CLOUDY WITH AN 80 PERCENT CHANCE FOR SHRAS WITH A FEW
EMBEDDED TSTMS. HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING POSSIBLE. LOWS NEAR
70. WINDS BECOMING NORTHEAST NEAR 15 MPH.

.MONDAY...CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE FOR SHRAS WITH A FEW EMBEDDED
TSTMS. HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING POSSIBLE. HIGHS IN THE UPPER
60S AND LOWER 70S. EAST AND NORTHEAST WIND NEAR 15 MPH.

.MONDAY NIGHT...CLOUDY AND COLDER WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE FOR RAIN.
LOWS IN THE UPPER 50S AND LOWER 60S.

.TUESDAY...CLOUDY AND COOL WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE FOR RAIN.
HIGHS IN THE LOW AND MID 70S.

BRO TW 069/074 062/072 059  80/50/50/50
MFE TW 069/074 062/072 059  80/50/50/50
RGC TW 067/077 059/074 057  80/50/50/50
SPI TW 071/076 064/075 061  80/50/50/50

The office that day

Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 18, 2:55 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBROStarr3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1998Every flash flood warning in 1998

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.