Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 11, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

July 16, 2002Jackson County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Jul 16, 2002, 8:36 AM CDT for Jackson 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: Jul 16, 2002, 8:36 AM CDT (13:36 UTC)
Expired: Jul 16, 2002, 11:30 AM CDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Jackson County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 153 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:37 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.

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, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 157 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: 78 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 585 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 35 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 161336
FFWHOU
TXC239-161630-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
837 AM CDT TUE JUL 16 2002

THE HOUSTON/GALVESTON NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  JACKSON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 1130 AM CDT

* AT 830 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAINFALL 
  MOVING INTO THE WESTERN PART OF JACKSON COUNTY. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL
  AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE EXPECTED OVER THE AREA THIS MORNING
  WHICH WILL LIKELY CAUSE FLOODING.

* FLOODING IS EXPECTED IN OR NEAR...
  GANADO...EDNA...CORDELE...LA WARD

DO NOT CROSS ANY LOCATION WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD

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 2898 9633 2867 9633 2874 9665 2910 9690
          2924 9668

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 Jul 16, 2:00 AM CDT, 6 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 2:00 AM CDT, 6 hours 36 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
200 AM CDT TUE JUL 16 2002

REMINDER...OUR RADAR IS STILL NOT UP TO FULL SPEED SO DEPICTED
RAINFALL AMTS MAY BE UNDERDONE.

MODELS HAVE A NUMBER OF DIFFS THIS CYCLE...BUT ANY WAY YOU SLICE
IT...THEY ALL INDC RAIN TDA. AVN APPEARS TO HAVE THE SLIGHTLY BETTER
HANDLE ON WHATS HAPPENING AS OF NOW. ETA 06Z SFC PRESSURES IN
PARTICULAR ARE TOO HIGH OVR THE GULF. BOTH TAKE THE BEST MOISTURE
OUT OF THE CWA THIS AFTN AND TNGT. 2.4-2.5 PW MAX PROGGED ACRS THE
AREA TDA DRIES TO 2.1-2.2.

AVN SHOWS A COUPLE OF LOW LVL SPEED MAXES OVR THE AREA...WHICH MOV
N THIS AFTN AND TNGT. WE ARE IN A FAVORABLE UPR JET REGION AS WELL.
IR SAT IMAGERY BEGINNING TO ENHANCE S AND E OF BRO...SO THIS WILL
CAUSE INTENSIFICATION OF PRECIP OVR AREA AS IT MOVES N. GROUND IS
PRETTY SOGGY DUE TO RECENT RAINS...SO WILL KEEP FFA GOING TDA IN
CASE HEAVIER PRECIP TO THE S HOLDS TOGETHER...AND AVN CERTAINLY
SUGGESTS THAT IT WILL.

NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION THAT WE COULD SEE A BRIEF ISOLD SVR CELL
TDA. MODEL SOUNDING CAPES RISE TO ABT 3000 WITH HELICITIES TO 150.
THINKING TOO THAT WE COULD GET SOME BRKS IN THE CLDS S PORTIONS
THIS AFTN...HELPING ATMOSPHERE TO DESTABILIZE FURTHER.

REST OF FCST BASICALLY LEFT UNTOUCHED. WIDESPREAD CONVECTION TDA
WILL BECOME MORE ISOLD AS THE WEEK PROGRESSES WITH H5 RDG BLDG
IN FROM THE E.

.HGX...FFA ALL OF SE TX TODAY.

PRELIMS...
CLL TB 085/074 092/075 093 943
IAH TB 086/075 093/075 094 933
GLS TB 087/079 088/080 089 932

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 16, 4:10 AM CDT, 4 hours 26 minutes before

TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-211>214-227-237-238-162200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
410 AM CDT TUE JUL 16 2002

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TODAY FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS...

...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE...

A LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WESTERN GULF OF
MEXICO WILL MOVE NORTH ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY. THE ATMOSPHERE
IS RICH WITH MOISTURE...SO HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED IN SPOTS.
RAINFALL TOTALS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED...WITH ISOLATED
HIGHER AMOUNTS. THE WIDESPREAD RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL TAPER OFF
FROM SOUTH TO NORTH THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

THE ENVIRONMENT IS MODERATELY UNSTABLE. WINDS ARE ALSO INCREASING IN
SPEED AND TURNING MORE TOWARD THE SOUTHWEST WITH HEIGHT. THESE
TWO INGREDIENTS CAN SOMETIMES CAUSE THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME SEVERE.
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT ISOLATED STORMS COULD PRODUCE BRIEF DAMAGING
WIND GUSTS TODAY.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER WEATHER NEWS SOURCES FOR
FURTHER UPDATES. YOU CAN ALSO VISIT US ON THE INTERNET AT
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/HGX.

END/46

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 16, 12:31 AM CDT	Special Marine Warning	HGX	44 min
Jul 16, 4:18 AM CDT	Special Marine Warning	HGX	117 min
Jul 16, 4:18 AM CDT	Special Marine Warning	HGX	117 min
Jul 16, 6:18 AM CDT	Special Marine Warning	HGX	117 min
Jul 16, 11:48 AM CDT	Special Marine Warning	HGX	87 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.