Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 2001

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

March 28, 2001Chambers County, Fort Bend County, Harris County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Mar 28, 2001, 4:01 AM CST for Chambers County, Fort Bend County, Harris County, Texas. It was in force for 4 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued: Mar 28, 2001, 4:01 AM CST (10:01 UTC)
Expired: Mar 28, 2001, 8:00 AM CST
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Chambers County, TX, Fort Bend County, TX, Harris County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:03 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, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 209 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1386 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 204 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 379 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 
WGUS54 KHGX 281009
FFWHOU
TXC071-157-201-281400-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
401 AM CST WED MAR 28 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  HARRIS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
  CHAMBERS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
  FORT BEND COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 800 AM CST

* AT 353 AM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAINFALL        
  ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 9 INCHES.

* FLOODING IS EXPECTED IN OR NEAR...ANAHUAC...ALONG THE INTERSTATE
  10 CORRIDOR AND FROM BUNKER HILL VILLAGE TO MISSION BEND TO 
  RICHMOND TO ORCHARD.

DO NOT CROSS ANY LOCATION WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD!

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN HARRIS COUNTY HAS REPORTED INTERSTATE 10 
FLOODED BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND INTERSTATE 610. EAST BOUND INTERSTATE 
10 TRAFFIC IS BE DIVERTED TO INTERSTATE 610 AND WEST BOUND TRAFFIC 
IS BEING DIVERTED ONTO WASHINGTON.

SMALL CREEKS...STREAMS...BAYOUS...UNDERPASSES...AND FEEDER ROADS MAY
FLOOD QUICKLY. AVOID LOCATIONS WATER COVERS THE GROUND!

USE EXTRA CAUTION AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DEPTH
AND SPEED OF FLASH FLOOD WATERS.

PLEASE REPORT FLOODING TO THE COUNTY SHERIFF...LOCAL POLICE...OR
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY. THEY WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

LAT...LON 2988 9441 2968 9437 2965 9527 2945 9576
          2951 9601 2972 9601 2976 9586 29-88 9579

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 Mar 28, 3:00 AM CST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 28, 3:00 AM CST, 1 hour 1 minute before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
300 AM CST WED MAR 28 2001

NORTHWEST FLOW PATTERN CONTINUES OVER SE TX THIS FORECAST PERIOD.
FORECAST PROBLEM IN THE FIRST TWO PERIODS CONCERNS THE IMPACT OF THE
CURRENT MCS...THEN THE SHORTWAVE TROUGHS MOVING OVER THE AREA LATER
TODAY.  THE AVN AND RUC DID A BETTER JOB WITH PLACING THE SURFACE
FEATURES AT 06Z...THOUGH THE ETA WAS CLOSE BEING JUST A TAD OFFSHORE.

THE CURRENT SITUATION AND THE MODELS ALL POINT TO KEEPING THE FLASH
FLOOD WATCH UP FOR TODAY...AND WILL UPDATE AND EXTEND IT THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON.  THE NEXT SHORTWAVE CURRENTLY OVER THE PANHANDLE LOOKS
TO MOVE INTO SE TX THIS AFTERNOON.  GIVEN THE VICINITY OF THE WARM
FRONT...WHICH MAY MOVE ONSHORE...AND PW/S STAYING FAIRLY CONSTANT
AROUND 1.4 INCHES...THIS SEEMS TO BE THE BEST ROUTE TO GO.  CONDITIONS
ARE ALSO FAVORABLE FOR SMALL HAIL AND WILL MENTION THIS POSSIBILITY
CLOSER TO THE COAST.  THE LOCATION OF THE WARM FRONT WILL ALSO BE A
MAJOR FACTOR IN THE TEMPERATURES FOR TODAY.  THE FWC AND MAV LOOK TO
BE MUCH TOO WARM OVER THE INLAND COUNTIES TODAY AND WILL GO CLOSER
TO YESTERDAY/S HIGHS THAN THE MOS.

AS FAR AS FOR THE LATER PERIODS...WILL NOT CHANGE THE CURRENT FORECAST
TOO MUCH.  SHORTWAVE TROUGHS MOVING ALONG THE NORTHWEST FLOW WILL
CONTINUE TO AFFECT SE TX DURING THIS PERIOD.

EAST WINDS PILING UP THE TIDES A BIT AND LEVELS WERE ONE TO TWO FEET
ABOVE NORMAL.  EXPECT THE TIDES TO RELAX LATER TODAY AS THE WINDS
BECOME MORE SOUTHERLY AND DIMINISH.

.HGX...FFA SE TX.
       SCA GALVESTON AND MATAGORDA BAYS.
       SCA 00 TO 60 NM HIGH ISLAND TO THE MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL.

PL-40:
45

CLL TE 050/046 065/051 068 953
IAH TE 052/050 067/052 070 963
GLS TE 060/058 069/060 069 +83

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 27, 8:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Wharton	40 min
Mar 28, 12:55 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Chambers, Harris	3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 2001 Every flash flood warning in 2001

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.