Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 73, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 6, 1998Montgomery County, Walker County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Oct 6, 1998, 5:37 AM CDT for Montgomery County, Walker 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 6, 1998, 5:37 AM CDT (10:37 UTC)
Expired
Oct 6, 1998, 8:35 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Montgomery County, TX, Walker County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:37 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, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 229 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 1998-10-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2931 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-10-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 3 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
2931 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
783 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
13 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 061036
FFWHOU
TXC339-471-061335-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
537 AM CDT TUE OCT 6 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MONTGOMERY COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS
  EASTERN WALKER COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

* UNTIL 835 AM CDT

* AT 535 AM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS
  AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING VERY HEAVY RAIN FROM RIVERSIDE TO
  HUNTSVILLE TO LAKE CONROE TO MAGNOLIA... MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT
  25 MPH.

* SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS MONTGOMERY
  COUNTY.  A NORTH NORTHEAST MOVEMENT CONTINUES TO BRING THESE STORMS
  INTO EASTERN WALKER COUNTY.  TRAINING WILL LIKELY LEAD TO FLASH
  FLOODING IN EASTERN WALKER COUNTY AND MOST OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY AS
  AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHENl IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLASH FLOODING.

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 6, 2:51 AM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 6, 2:51 AM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
205 AM CDT TUE OCT 6 1998

PLEASE AMEND CLL TEMPS AS WIND SHIFT HAS DROPPED TEMPS RAPIDLY.  SEE
UPDATED PRELIMS.

MDLS ARE IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH RAIN TODAY BUT DIVERGE
SIGNIFICANTLY FOR TONIGHT AND WED AM.  ETA IS THE FASTEST IN DRYING
THINGS OUT...WHILE NGM KEEPS THE RAIN GOING INTO WED AM AND PRODUCES
AN OVERRUNNING SITUATION.  AVN SOLN LEANS CLOSER TO THE ETA BUT ENDS
PRECIP SOMETIME THIS EVENING.  PW'S ARE FCST TO REMAIN AROUND 2
INCHES TODAY AND COUPLED WITH BROAD DIFFLUENCE ALOFT AND RRQ RAIN
APPEARS LIKELY...LOCALLY HEAVY.  WOULD LIKE TO EXPAND THE FFA TO
COVER THE ENTIRE FCST AREA FOR TODAY.  X-SECTIONS SHOW AIR MASS IS
SATURATED FROM BOTTOM TO TOP...SO THREAT FOR DOWNBURST WINDS HAS
DIMINISHED.  WIND SHEAR NOT NEARLY AS IMPRESSIVE AS FCST YESTERDAY
SO WILL REMOVE MENTION OF SVR FROM ZONES.  MAIN FCST PROBLEM IS WHEN
TO END THE RAIN AND THE EFFECTS ON AREA TEMPS.  CURRENT THINKING IS
TO END PRECIP IN CLL AROUND SUNSET...IAH LATE EVENING AND GLS AFTER
MIDNIGHT.  HAVE LEANED TOWARD ETA/AVN SOLN FOR WED WHICH DRIES
THINGS OUT AND KEEPS TEMPS BELOW 80 DEGREES.  43/42

PRELIMS...
CLL T/B U/A 065/055 079/052  +200  1ST PERIOD: LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN
TEMPERATURES NEARLY STEADY OR SLOWLY FALLING TO AROUND 60.

IAH T/C B/A 076/059 079/052  +400  1ST PERIOD: LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN
TEMPERATURES NEARLY STEADY OR SLOWLY FALLING INTO THE 60S.

2ND PERIOD:  MAINLY EVENING

GLS T/W B/A 086/066 080/060  +6-0  1ST PERIOD: 30 PERCENT THIS
MORNING...INCREASING TO 100 PERCENT BY AFTERNOON. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN
THIS AFTERNOON.  TEMPERATURES FALLING INTO THE 70S THI^S AFTERNOON.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 6, 3:36 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBurleson3 hr
Oct 6, 4:08 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHouston2 hr
Oct 6, 5:24 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXColorado2 hr
Oct 6, 6:10 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXSan Jacinto2 hr
Oct 6, 6:24 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXTrinity2 hr
Oct 6, 6:48 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXJackson, Matagorda, Wharton2 hr
Oct 6, 7:15 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXFort Bend65 min
Oct 6, 7:38 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXLiberty117 min
Oct 6, 7:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria, Galveston, Harris57 min
Oct 6, 8:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers, Galveston61 min
Oct 6, 9:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers, Galveston61 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.