Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 69, NWS Corpus Christi, TX

September 16, 2002Nueces County, Texas

NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued this flash flood warning at Sep 16, 2002, 6:55 PM CDT for Nueces 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 outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Sep 16, 2002, 6:55 PM CDT (23:55 UTC)
Expired: Sep 16, 2002, 9:45 PM CDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Corpus Christi, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Nueces County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 19 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:55 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this flash flood warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 35 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: 784 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 580 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 91 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS54 KCRP 162355
FFWCRP
TXC355-170245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
655 PM CDT MON SEP 16 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NUECES COUNTY IN TEXAS

* UNTIL 945 PM CDT

* AT 655 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  VERY HEAVY RAIN 14 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ROBSTOWN...OR ABOUT 13
  MILES NORTH OF KINGSVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 5 MPH.  RADAR ESTIMATES
  INDICATE 2 TO 4 INCHES HAS ALREADY FALLEN IN WESTERN PORTIONS OF
  NUECES COUNTY.  ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES WILL
  BE POSSIBLE AS ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN MOVES INTO WESTERN AND CENTRAL
  PORTIONS OF NUECES COUNTY.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE....
  ROBSTOWN...
  TULOSO...
  DRISCOLL...
  BANQUETTE...

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES. ADDITIONALLY...COUNTRY
ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS AND OTHER
LOW LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLASH FLOODING.

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

LAT...LON 2793 9786 2768 9793 2760 9785 2757 9738
          2779 9729

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS74 KCRP 170150
FFSCRP
TXC355-170245-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
850 PM CDT MON SEP 16 2002

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR WESTERN NUECES COUNTY UNTIL 
945 PM CDT...

AT 845 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAINS OVER 
CENTRAL NUECES COUNTY BETWEEN DRISCOLL AND PETRONILA AND ROBSTOWN. 
WIDESPREAD RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES HAS FALLEN ACROSS THE 
WARNING AREA WITH ISOLATED TOTALS NEAR 6 INCHES. THE RAIN WAS SLOWLY 
DRIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST AND SHOWING A SLIGHT WEAKENING TREND. 
THEREFORE AN ADDITIONAL INCH OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE STORM 
FINALLY DISSIPATES. 

PERSONS IN CENTRAL NUECES COUNTY SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY CAUTION WHILE 
TRAVELLING THIS EVENING...WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS 
OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  PETRONILA CREEK AND WEST OSO CREEK MAY 
BE EXPERIENCING FLOODING THIS EVENING. IF FLASH FLOODING IS 
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND TO EXCAPE FLOOD 
WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS 
RISING.

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 Corpus Christi, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Sep 16, 3:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 16, 3:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 55 minutes before

COASTAL BEND FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
300 PM CDT MON SEP 16 2002

SHORT-TERM...ABUNDANT MOISTURE WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA THROUGH
TONIGHT WITH AREAS OF DEEP CONVECTION CONTINUING OVER THE COASTAL
WATERS, AS WELL AS WEBB, AND DUVAL COUNTIES. CONVECTION WILL ADVECT
NORTH-NORTHEAST THROUGH TONIGHT PRODUCING PERIODS OF MODERATE TO
HEAVY RAINFALL. MODELS KEEP PWATS ABOVE 2.00 INCHES OVER THE COASTAL
BENDS THROUGH TUESDAY. THE MOIST AND UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT COMBINED
WITH A VORTICITY MAXIMA WILL GENERATE STRONG POSITIVE OMEGA AND
RESULT IN SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS INTO TUESDAY.
WILL CONTINUE THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT WITH AN
ADDITIONAL 2 TO 4 INCHES AND LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. WILL RETAIN
SLIGHT CHANCE POPS TUESDAY NIGHT AS SUFFICIENT MOISTURE/INSTABILITY
LINGERS.

LONG-TERM...WILL SEE DRIER AIR MOVE INTO THE CWA THURSDAY/FRIDAY.
BUT...ANOTHER WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA
SATURDAY/SUNDAY. IT APPEARS THE FRONT WILL STALL JUST NORTH OF THE
CWA BUT WILL RETAIN SLIGHT CHANCE POPS AS MESOSCALE BOUNDARIES MAY
INFLUENCE THE AREA.

MARINE...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE OVER WATERS THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING.  A COASTAL TROUGH WILL
GRADUALLY BE SHIFTED WESTWARD AS WEAK HIGH PRESSURE DEVELOPS OVER
THE NORTH CENTRAL GULF. EASTERLY WINDS WILL VEER TO THE SOUTH LATE
TONIGHT...AND A WEAK TO MODERATE SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL PREVAIL THROUGH
LATE THURSDAY.  ANOTHER COLD FRONT IS PROGGED TO APPROACH SOUTH
TEXAS ON FRIDAY...IN RESPONSE NORTHEAST TO EAST WINDS WILL BECOME
ESTABLISHED.  NO FLAGS EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS:
CRP TW 072/088 076/091 075 652
VCT TW 073/088 075/090 074 652
LRD TW 074/090 077/094 076 54-

.CRP...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TXZ229>234-239>247 UNTIL 10Z TUESDAY.

71/78

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 16, 1:53 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	CRP	Duval, Jim Wells, Webb	3 hr
Sep 16, 4:43 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	CRP	Nueces	47 min
Sep 16, 5:39 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	CRP	Nueces	36 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 2002 Every flash flood warning in 2002

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.