Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 24, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

September 2, 2003Walker County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Sep 2, 2003, 4:00 AM CDT for Walker 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 2, 2003, 4:00 AM CDT (09:00 UTC)
Expired
Sep 2, 2003, 7:00 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Walker County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 145 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:59 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

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 238 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2003-09-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 693 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2003-09-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 21 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
693 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
910 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
31 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 020901
FFWHOU
TXC471-021200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
400 AM CDT TUE SEP 2 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 700 AM CDT

* AT 355 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER   
  SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE COUNTY. RAINFALL FROM         
  YESTERDAY EVENING COUPLED WITH RAINFALL EARLY THIS MORNING HAS 
  RESULTED IN A TOTAL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 6 INCHES. AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 
  3 INCHES IS POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT TWO HOURS. THIS ADDITIONAL 
  RAINFALL WILL LEAD TO FLOODING.    

* FLOODING IS EXPECTED IN OR NEAR...
  HUNTSVILLE STATE PARK...HUNTSVILLE..RIVERSIDE...CRABBS PRAIRIE

DO NOT CROSS ANY LOCATION WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD

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 3075 9581 3063 9577 3054 9554 3056 9538
          3077 9535 3092 9542

$$

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 Sep 2, 2:40 AM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 2, 2:40 AM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
240 AM CDT TUE SEP 2 2003

LOOKS LIKE YET ANOTHER SOGGY DAY ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY. THERE
HAS BEEN A PERSISTENT LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM POLK AND
TRINITY COUNTIES SOUTHWESTWARD TO AUSTIN AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES.
AREAL COVERAGE IS NOT QUITE AS LARGE AS YESTERDAY...BUT ACTIVITY HAS
BEEN ON A STEADY INCREASE THIS MORNING. A NORTH-SOUTH BAND OF STORMS
IS DEVELOPING IN COLORADO...WHARTON...AND JACKSON COUNTIES. PW
VALUES REMAIN IN THE 2 TO 2.2 INCH RANGE...SO HEAVY RAINFALL LOOKS
LIKE A GOOD BET. WITH ALL THE WET GROUNDS AND POTENTIAL FOR HEAVIER
RAIN...WILL MAINTAIN THE FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS
UNTIL 4 PM...AND THE DAY SHIFT CAN EVALUATE IF IT NEEDS TO BE
EXTENDED THROUGH TONIGHT.

FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK...IT LOOKS LIKE A SURFACE BOUNDARY WILL BE
FORCED THROUGH THE REGION...PROBABLY ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT OR THURSDAY.
THIS WILL USHER IN SOME COOLER AND DRIER AIR AND SHOULD ALLOW THE
AREA TO DRY OUT SOME. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR OR SLIGHTLY BELOW
CLIMATOLOGICAL MEANS THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. IT LOOKS
LIKE ONCE WE GET ALL THE RAIN OUT OF HERE LATER THIS WEEK...WE
SHOULD BE IN FOR AN EXTENDED STRETCH /ABOUT 4 OR 5 DAYS/ OF DRY
WEATHER. THE NEXT CHANCE FOR RAIN LOOKS TO BE SOMETIME NEXT WEEK.
46/33

.HGX...FLOOD WATCH ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS THROUGH 4 PM.

PRELIMS
CLL TE 084/072 089/071 092 744
IAH TE 085/073 088/071 090 744
GLS TE 086/078 087/078 088 744
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 1, 6:13 AM CDT, 21 hours 47 minutes before
GMZ330-335-350-355-370-375-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-
227-235>238-021100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
613 AM CDT MON SEP 1 2003

...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY...
...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE TODAY...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL ARE
EXPECTED ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY AS A VERY MOIST
FLOW OFF THE GULF PERSISTS. TRAINING OF STORMS AND ASSOCIATED
POTENTIAL FLOODING IS POSSIBLE MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM
LAKE LIVINGSTON TO NEW CANEY TO HOUSTON TO RICHMOND TO WHARTON TO
CORDELE. THE THREAT FOR RAIN WILL CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT. RAINFALL
TOTALS THROUGH MIDNIGHT TONIGHT ARE EXPECTED TO AVERAGE 1 TO 3
INCHES WITH ISOLATED 4 TO 6 INCH AMOUNTS POSSIBLE WHERE THE
STRONGEST TRAINING DEVELOPS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR
ACTIVATION. PREPAREDNESS PLANS SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 1, 11:17 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXTrinity3 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.