Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 14, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

July 16, 2003Matagorda County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Jul 16, 2003, 9:16 AM CDT for Matagorda County, Texas. It was in force for 119 min. 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, 2003, 9:16 AM CDT (14:16 UTC)
Expired: Jul 16, 2003, 11:15 AM CDT
In force: 119 min
Issued by: NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Matagorda County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:18 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, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 168 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: 2535 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 625 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 18 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 161416
FFWHOU
TXC321-161615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
916 AM CDT WED JUL 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN MATAGORDA COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 1115 AM CDT

* AT 908 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY SHOWERS AND 
  THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING OVER THE WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY.
  RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR WERE COMMON WITH 
  THESE STORMS.

* FLOODING IS EXPECTED IN OR NEAR...
  PALACIOS...MATAGORDA...MIDFIELD...MARKHAM

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 2860 9579 2838 9632 2894 9630 2912 9605

$$

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, 7:09 AM CDT, 2 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 7:09 AM CDT, 2 hours 7 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
709 AM CDT WED JUL 16 2003

UPDATE DISC...
THE NATURE OF THE RAIN BANDS MOVING OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE
AREA INDICATES A FLOOD WATCH IS WARRANTED.  ISSUED A FLOOD WATCH
ENDING AT 5 PM TODAY.

PREV DISC...
BECAUSE OF RECENT TRENDS ON THE RADAR...DECIDED TO UP THE POPS OVER
THE SOUTHWESTERN COUNTIES AND THE COASTAL COUNTIES.

PREV DISC...
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE WEATHER PATTERN AFFECTING SE TX THIS MORNING
SHOWS CLAUDETTE MOVING AWAY FROM LRD AND COT...A SURFACE TROUGH
EXTENDING FROM THE SYSTEM ACROSS BYY AND LBX...AND A SURFACE RIDGE
OVER THE NORTHERN COUNTIES OF SE TX.  THE MID AND UPPER LEVEL HIGH
PRESSURE AREA OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION WILL HELP CLAUDETTE
CONTINUE ITS WESTWARD MOVEMENT.  FORECAST ITEMS OF NOTE INCLUDE THE
LINGERING EFFECTS OF THE SOON-TO-BE TROPICAL DEPRESSION TODAY...THEN
THE EFFECTS OF THE EASTERLIES AND WEAK SHORTWAVES MOVING IN FROM THE
NORTH AROUND THE FOUR CORNERS HIGH PRESSURE.

GPS AND ACARS/MAPS PW/S AT THIS TIME INDICATE A DRIER ATMOSPHERE THAN
THE 00Z CRP AND LCH SOUNDINGS.  CURRENT RADAR SUGGESTS THAT SOME RAIN
BANDS WERE FORMING OFF MATAGORDA AND JACKSON COUNTIES...WITH ANOTHER
FORMING WELL OFFSHORE OF CHAMBERS AND GALVESTON COUNTIES.  WILL GO
WITH 50 PERCENT POPS OVER THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES AND LESS...BUT STILL
IN THE SCATTERED CATEGORY...ELSEWHERE.  ALSO...THE WATER VAPOR
SUGGESTS KEEPING MORE CLOUDS IN PLACE FOR TODAY.  FOR THE LATTER
PERIODS...THE GFS SUGGESTS A FAVORABLE PLACEMENT OF THE JET MOVING
AROUND THE HIGH ON FRIDAY WITH A 500 MB SHORTWAVE MOVING OVER SE TX...
THOUGH THE ETA INDICATES A STRONGER RIDGE.  BOTH MODELS INDICATE
LESSOR POPS FOR SATURDAY.  WILL KEEP THE CURRENT POPS IN PLACE AFTER
SATURDAY.

FOR THE MARINE...THE PRESSURE GRADIENT IS STILL STRONG ENOUGH THAT
ADVISORY CRITERIA WINDS WERE OCCURRING OVER THE GULF WATERS.  EXPECT
THESE TO SLOWLY RELAX THROUGHOUT THE DAY.  SOME PATCHY FOG WILL BE
POSSIBLE TONIGHT...THE SECOND PERIOD...WITH LIGHT WINDS AND MOIST
SURFACE CONDITIONS.

PL-40
45

.HGX...FLOOD WATCH SE TX ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 10.
       SCA 00 TO 60 NM HIGH ISLAND TO THE MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL.

PRELIMS...
CLL EB 091/074 095/074 096 312
IAH EB 089/075 093/075 094 412
GLS TB 087/079 088/079 090 523

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 16, 7:05 AM CDT, 2 hours 11 minutes before

GMZ330-335-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-171100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
705 AM CDT WED JUL 16 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT TODAY ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 10...

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.
RAIN BANDS ASSOCIATED WITH TROPICAL DEPRESSION CLAUDETTE WILL AFFECT
THE SOUTHWESTERN HALF OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY.  LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE AND MAY PRODUCE FLOODING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE TODAY.  SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT
EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 15, 8:28 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Jackson, Matagorda, Wharton	2 hr
Jul 16, 7:46 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Fort Bend	3 hr
Jul 16, 10:21 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Wharton	114 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 2003 Every 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.