Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Fort Worth, TX

September 18, 2003Dallas County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this flash flood warning at Sep 18, 2003, 3:53 PM CDT for Dallas 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 18, 2003, 3:53 PM CDT (20:53 UTC)
Expired
Sep 18, 2003, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Dallas County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:52 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

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 45 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-09-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 576 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-09-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 55 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
576 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-163 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1030 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
117 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 KFWD 182056
FFWFTW
TXC113-190000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
353 PM CDT THU SEP 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  DALLAS COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 353 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS
  PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL MOVING VERY SLOWLY.  LAW ENFORCEMENT
  HAS REPORTED SIX INCHES OF WATER COVERING PORTIONS OF I-20 NEAR    
  I-45.  ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL AGGRAVATE FLOODING PROBLEMS IN 
  DALLAS COUNTY.  MOTORISTS SHOULD EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN     
  DRIVING DURING RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC.


* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE COCKRELL HILL...
  DUNCANVILLE...HIGHLAND PARK...HUTCHINS AND UNIVERSITY PARK

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.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR OTHER LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

LAT...LON 3292 9689 3261 9695 3261 9664 3293 9666

$$

ROBBINS
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS74 KFWD 182247
FFSFTW
TXC113-190000-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
547 PM CDT THU SEP 18 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR DALLAS COUNTY UNTIL 700 PM 
CDT...

FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED THROUGHOUT DALLAS COUNTY AND IS CAUSING 
NUMEROUS TRAFFIC PROBLEMS ON THE HIGHWAYS...ESPECIALLY I-635 AND 
HIGHWAY 75.  FOR THE TIME BEING... THE RAINFALL HAS DIMINISHED. 
HOWEVER...ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORMING IN A LINE FROM DENTON 
TO LIPAN AND WILL MOVE OVER DALLAS COUNTY THIS EVENING. ADDITIONAL 
FLOODING PROBLEMS ARE LIKELY THROUGH MID-EVENING.  

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY
OR PAST POLICE BARRICADES. IF YOUR VEHICLE STALLS IN THE WATER...
ABANDON IT IMMEDIATELY AND SEEK HIGHER GROUND.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT SINCE IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING. USE CAUTION IN AND AROUND STREAMS...CREEKS OR
DRAINAGE DITCHES. TAKE THE SHORTEST PATH TO REACH HIGHER GROUND...BUT
DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH RISING WATER.

$$

ROBBINS
000 
WGUS74 KFWD 182354
FFSFTW
TXC113-190000-

FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
651 PM CDT THU SEP 18 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR DALLAS COUNTY WILL EXPIRE AT 700 PM CDT...

THE THREAT OF FLASH FLOODING HAS DIMINISHED AS THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL 
HAS MOVED EAST OF THE AREA. HOWEVER...ADDITIONAL RAIN WILL MOVE INTO 
DALLAS COUNTY BY 8 PM AND MAY AGGRAVATE SOME OF THE FLOODING 
PROBLEMS THAT HAVE OCCURRED THIS EVENING.  THIS SITUATION WILL BE 
MONITORED CLOSELY.

$$

ROBBINS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 18, 5:06 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDEllis, Johnson, Tarrant3 hr
Sep 18, 5:49 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDMcLennan3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 2003Every flash flood warning in 2003

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.