Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 69, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 4, 1998Galveston County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Oct 4, 1998, 10:51 PM CDT 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
Oct 4, 1998, 10:51 PM CDT (03:51 UTC)
Expired
Oct 5, 1998, 12:50 AM CDT
In force
119 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Galveston County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 3.9 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1998-10-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 179 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1998-10-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 259 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
179 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-183 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
745 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
259 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
434 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 050350
FFWHOU
TXC167-050550-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1051 PM CDT SUN OCT 4 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS RE-ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  GALVESTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

* UNTIL 1250 AM CDT

* AT 1050 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED
  SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WIDESPREAD OVER
  THE COUNTY...AND MORE MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWERS MOVING ONSHORE
  FROM THE GULF. THROUGH 1230 AM...AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 3 INCHES
  COULD FALL OVER ALREADY SATURATED GROUND.

* FLOODING IS ALREADY OCCURRING IN A NUMBER OF SPOTS IN THE
  COUNTY. THIS ADDITIONAL MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN WILL CAUSE
  WATER LEVELS TO RISE...OR AT LEAST REMAIN STEADY. BE ALERT
  FOR HIGH STANDING WATER ON ROADWAYS...AND FOR INUNDATION OF
  LOW LYING POORLY DRAINED AREAS.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAlDWAY.
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.

END

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 4, 8:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 4, 8:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 16 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
835 PM CDT SUN OCT 4 1998

BUSY NIGHT HERE AT THE WFO. MOISTURE RICH ATMOSPHERE AND UPR
DIFLUENCE SEEM TO COMBINE WITH AN AREA OF SFC CONVERGENCE ALG THE
I-45 CORRIDOR TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL IN THE SE PTN OF OUR CWA.
THE AREA OF HEAVIEST RAINFALL APPEARS TO HAVE GOTTEN A KICK IN THE
LAST HALF HOUR...AND HOPEFULLY WILL EXIT THE CWA WITHIN THE HOUR.

HAVENT HAD TIME FOR AN EXHAUSTIVE OVERVIEW OF THE MODELS...BUT AM
SKEPTICAL OF THE DRYING BEING INDICATED LATE TNGT INTO TMRW BY THE
ETA. ITS BEEN OFF ON THIS FOR THE LAST TWO DAYS. NGM HOLDS MOISTURE
IN...AND WITH A DEEP SLY FLOW OFF THE GULF...THIS SOLN SEEMS MOST
REASONABLE. ANOTHER VORT LOBE IS SLATED TO CROSS THE AREA TMRW.
COULD SEE ANOTHER ROUND OF RW/TRW...SOME WITH HVY RAIN. ANOTHER ONE
IS ON OUR DOORSTEP BY 12Z TUE. SIGH.

CAN LOWER POPS NRN ZONES FOR THE NIGHT. LEAVE THEM ALONE ELSW...
SHD SEE REDEVELOPMENT AGAIN ALG COAST BY DAWN...AS WAS THE CASE PREV
TWO NIGHTS.

PRELIMS...

CLL B/B E/E 075/092 074/088  1335

IAH E/B E/E 074/092 075/088  3334

GLS B/B B/E 077/089 078/087  4334

SW  B/B B/E 076/090 076/088  2223  (JACKSON/MATAGORDA)

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 4, 8:57 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston113 min
Oct 5, 12:58 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria47 min
Oct 5, 1:32 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria, Galveston, Harris28 min

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.