Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 207, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

October 18, 1998Kerr County, Real County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this flash flood warning at Oct 18, 1998, 7:29 AM CDT for Kerr County, Real County, Texas. It was in force for 5 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, 7:29 AM CDT (12:29 UTC)
Expired
Oct 18, 1998, 12:00 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Kerr County, TX, Real County, TX

The radar

The Laughlin AFB radar (KDFX), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:30 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

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 12:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 137 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-10-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-10-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -64 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
732 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-73 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSAT 181231
FFWSAT
TXC013-019-021-029-031-053-055-091-123-149-163-171-177-187-209-
255-259-265-285-287-299-325-385-453-463-491-493-507-181700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
729 AM CDT SUN OCT 18 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  LLANO IN TEXAS
  BURNET IN TEXAS
  WILLIAMSON IN TEXAS
  GILLESPIE IN TEXAS
  BLANCO IN TEXAS
  TRAVIS IN TEXAS
  BASTROP IN TEXAS
  LEE IN TEXAS
  REAL IN TEXAS
  KERR IN TEXAS
  KENDALL IN TEXAS
  BANDERA IN TEXAS
  COMAL IN TEXAS
  HAYS IN TEXAS
  CALDWELL IN TEXAS
  FAYETTE IN TEXAS
  UVALDE IN TEXAS
  MEDINA IN TEXAS
  BEXAR IN TEXAS
  GUADALUPE IN TEXAS
  GONZALES IN TEXAS
  LAVACA IN TEXAS
  DEWITT IN TEXAS
  KARNES IN TEXAS
  WILSON IN TEXAS
  ATASCOSA IN TEXAS
  FRIO IN TEXAS
  ZAVALA IN TEXAS

* UNTIL 12 PM NOON CDT

* AT 715 AM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL
  TEXAS... MOVING MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH WITH ADDITIONAL RAIN
  DEVELOPING TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE LARGE RAIN AREA.

* ALL SOILS OVER SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS REMAIN SATURATED WITH
  ADDITIONAL RAINFALL OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR INDICATED.
  FLASH FLOODING IS BEING REPORTED ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS WITH
  NEARLY ALL SMALL CREEKS AND STREAM ALSO FLOODING.

DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD!  IT TAKES AS
LITTLE AS 2 FEET OF WATER TO WASH AWAY A VEHICLE.  MOST SOUTH
CENTRAL TEXAS DEATHS OCCUR WHEN DRIVERS ATTEMPT TO CROSS FLOODED
LOW AREAS.  MANY OTHER DEATHS OCCUR IN FLASH FLOODS AS CHILDREN OR
YOUNG ADULTS WALK IN OR NEAR FLOODED CREEKS AND STREAMS.  REMEMBER
THAT THE RAIN-SOAKED BANKS OF THESE STREAMS ARE VERY UNSTABLE...AND
CAN EASILY GIVE WAY...DUMPING ANYONE ALONG THE BANK INTO THE
DANGEROUS WATER.

THIS IS A RECORD-BREAKING...VERY DANGEROUS EVENT.  AVOID ANY
UNNECdESSARY TRAVEL AND USE EXTREME CAUTION IF YOU MUST TRAVEL.

LHE

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 Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Oct 17, 8:20 PM CDT, 11 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 17, 8:20 PM CDT, 11 hours 9 minutes before
COASTAL BEND FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
820 PM CDT SAT OCT 17 1998

MSTR CONTINUES TO ADVECT FM MADELINE ACRS MEXICO INTO TX. THIS MSTR
COMBINED WITH THE SFC FNT TO THE NORTH AND UPR DYNAMICS TO GENERATE
COPIOUS RAIN/TSTMS TDA JUST NORTH OF OUR CWA. NEVERTHELESS...
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE AFFECTED MAINLY THE CNTRL
AND ERN CWA TDA IN PART DUE TO THE RRQ OF THE UPR JET STREAK. THIS
STREAK IS PROGD BY ALL MODELS TO LIFT NEWD. THE AVN IS PREFERRED
ATTM SINCE COMPARISON WITH LAPS INDICATES THAT IT IS BETTER THAN NGM
AND ETA IN FCSTG THE SFC PRES FIELD OVR THE WRN CWA. THE AVN PROGD A
SFC LOW TO DVLP FM 00 TO 06 UTC OVR THE WRN CWA AND LAPS PRES PTNS
INDICATES SUCH. THUS EXPECT PCPN TO DVLP OVR THE WRN CWA TNGT.
WSR-88D IS BEGINNING TO INDICATE SUCH. AVN PROGS THE WRN CWA LOW TO
DMSH YET DRAGS THE SFC FNT INTO THE CWA SUN...AND KEEPS IT
QUASI-STATIONARY...WHICH WL ENHANCE CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS. SFC THETA-E VALUES ARE ALREADY GREATER THAN THAT
PROGD BY THE NGM/ETA/AVN. HIGH LOW LVL AND MID LVL MSTR WL LIKELY
RESULT IN COPIOUS RAINS OVR PTNS OF THE CWA SUN. NO CHGS TO CURRENT
PERIOD ATTM...HWR SUGGEST MENTION OF PSBL HVY RAIN IN THE ZNS FOR
SUN...AND CONSIDER PSBL ISSUANCE OF FFA.

87

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 18, 5:15 AM CDT, 2 hours 14 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-182300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
515 AM CDT SUN OCT 18 1998

A FLOOD AND FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH TODAY FOR THE
TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES...MOISTURE FROM EASTERN PACIFIC
TROPICAL SYSTEMS...GULF MOISTURE...AND A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT WILL
INTERACT TO PRODUCE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE
HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THROUGH TODAY.  ADDITIONAL
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 8 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED WITH ISOLATED
AMOUNTS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES.

PERSONS IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA ARE URGED TO CHECK PREPAREDNESS
REQUIREMENTS...KEEP INFORMED AND BE READY TO TAKE ACTION IF HEAVY
RAIN OR FLOODING IS OBSERVED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED.  MOTORISTS
SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED OR LOW LYING AREAS WHERE
WATER IS FLOWING OR OF AN UNKNOWN DEPTH.  KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM
STORM DRAINS AND STREAMS.

THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NORMALLY WILL BE UPDATED BY MEANS OF
THE ZONE FORECASTS...SHORT TERM FORECAST...WATCHES...WARNINGS AND
ADVISORIES.  THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK ITSELF WILL BE UPDATED
ONLY IF UNEXPECTED HAZARDOUS WEATHER DEVELOPS OR IF EXPECTED
HAZARDOUS WEATHER NO LONGER IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP.

ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS HOME PAGE OF THE INTERNET
WORLD WIDE WEB AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/EWX.  TIMELY DELIVERY OF DATA AND
PRODUCTS FROM THIS SERVER THROUGH THE INTERNET IS NOT GUARANTEED...
UNLIKE DATA AND PRODUCTS DELIVERED FROM THE OFFICIAL NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE SOURCES.

THE OFFICIAL SOURCE OF NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DATA AND PRODUCTS IS
THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO...NOAA WEATHER WIRE...FAMILY OF SERVICES
AND EMWIN.

THE VOICE OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...NOAA WEATHER RADIO...
OPERATING ON A FREQUENCY BETWEEN 162.400 MHZ AND 162.550 MHZ.

NEARBY HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOKS INCLUDE:
SOUTHWEST TEXAS    FROM MIDLAND            LBBSPSMAF...WWUS35 KMAF
CONCHO VALLEY      FROM SAN ANGELO         LBBSPSSJT...WWUS35 KSJT
NORTH TEXAS        FROM FORT WORTH         FTWSPSFTW...WWUS35 KFTW
SOUTHEAST TEXAS    FROM HOUSTON/GALVESTON  SATSPSHOU...WWUS35 KHOU
COASTAL BEND/      FROM CORPUS CHRISTI     SATSPSCRP...WWUS35 KCRP
RIO GRANDE PLAINS
Special weather statement, Oct 18, 5:15 AM CDT, 2 hours 14 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-182300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
515 AM CDT SUN OCT 18 1998

A FLOOD AND FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH TODAY FOR THE
TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES...MOISTURE FROM EASTERN PACIFIC
TROPICAL SYSTEMS...GULF MOISTURE...AND A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT WILL
INTERACT TO PRODUCE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE
HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THROUGH TODAY.  ADDITIONAL
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 8 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED WITH ISOLATED
AMOUNTS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES.

PERSONS IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA ARE URGED TO CHECK PREPAREDNESS
REQUIREMENTS...KEEP INFORMED AND BE READY TO TAKE ACTION IF HEAVY
RAIN OR FLOODING IS OBSERVED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED.  MOTORISTS
SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED OR LOW LYING AREAS WHERE
WATER IS FLOWING OR OF AN UNKNOWN DEPTH.  KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM
STORM DRAINS AND STREAMS.

THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NORMALLY WILL BE UPDATED BY MEANS OF
THE ZONE FORECASTS...SHORT TERM FORECAST...WATCHES...WARNINGS AND
ADVISORIES.  THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK ITSELF WILL BE UPDATED
ONLY IF UNEXPECTED HAZARDOUS WEATHER DEVELOPS OR IF EXPECTED
HAZARDOUS WEATHER NO LONGER IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP.

ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS HOME PAGE OF THE INTERNET
WORLD WIDE WEB AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/EWX.  TIMELY DELIVERY OF DATA AND
PRODUCTS FROM THIS SERVER THROUGH THE INTERNET IS NOT GUARANTEED...
UNLIKE DATA AND PRODUCTS DELIVERED FROM THE OFFICIAL NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE SOURCES.

THE OFFICIAL SOURCE OF NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DATA AND PRODUCTS IS
THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO...NOAA WEATHER WIRE...FAMILY OF SERVICES
AND EMWIN.

THE VOICE OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...NOAA WEATHER RADIO...
OPERATING ON A FREQUENCY BETWEEN 162.400 MHZ AND 162.550 MHZ.

NEARBY HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOKS INCLUDE:
SOUTHWEST TEXAS    FROM MIDLAND            LBBSPSMAF...WWUS35 KMAF
CONCHO VALLEY      FROM SAN ANGELO         LBBSPSSJT...WWUS35 KSJT
NORTH TEXAS        FROM FORT WORTH         FTWSPSFTW...WWUS35 KFTW
SOUTHEAST TEXAS    FROM HOUSTON/GALVESTON  SATSPSHOU...WWUS35 KHOU
COASTAL BEND/      FROM CORPUS CHRISTI     SATSPSCRP...WWUS35 KCRP
RIO GRANDE PLAINS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 17, 7:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXHays60 min
Oct 17, 8:33 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXDeWitt3 hr
Oct 17, 10:15 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXTravis, Williamson3 hr
Oct 17, 10:25 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBastrop, Fayette5 hr
Oct 17, 10:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBandera3 hr
Oct 17, 11:13 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXUvalde3 hr
Oct 17, 11:18 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBexar, Medina4 hr
Oct 17, 11:27 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXLee4 hr
Oct 17, 11:27 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXLavaca4 hr
Oct 17, 11:29 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXCaldwell, Comal, Gonzales, Guadalupe4 hr
Oct 17, 11:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBastrop, Caldwell, Fayette, Lee8 hr
Oct 17, 11:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Hays8 hr
Oct 17, 11:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBlanco, Burnet, Travis, Williamson8 hr
Oct 17, 11:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXGillespie, Llano8 hr
Oct 17, 11:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBandera, Medina, Uvalde8 hr
Oct 17, 11:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXKendall, Kerr8 hr
Oct 17, 11:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXReal8 hr
Oct 18, 2:35 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXGonzales, Lavaca5 hr
Oct 18, 4:24 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXDeWitt, Karnes4 hr
Oct 18, 5:04 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXWilson3 hr
Oct 18, 5:19 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXFrio, Zavala3 hr
Oct 18, 5:19 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXAtascosa3 hr
Oct 18, 7:29 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBastrop, Caldwell, Fayette, Gonzales, Lee, Travis and 1 more5 hr
Oct 18, 7:29 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXDeWitt, Karnes, Lavaca5 hr
Oct 18, 7:29 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBlanco, Burnet, Comal, Gillespie, Hays, Kendall and 1 more5 hr
Oct 18, 7:29 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXAtascosa, Bexar, Guadalupe, Wilson5 hr
Oct 18, 7:29 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBandera, Frio, Medina, Uvalde, Zavala5 hr
Oct 18, 11:28 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBastrop, Lee, Williamson4 hr
Oct 18, 11:28 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXAtascosa, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Medina4 hr
Oct 18, 11:28 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXFrio, Uvalde4 hr
Oct 18, 11:28 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBlanco, Caldwell, Hays, Travis4 hr
Oct 18, 11:38 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXDeWitt, Fayette, Gonzales, Karnes, Lavaca, Wilson6 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.