Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 22, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 31, 2003Howard County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 31, 2003, 9:04 PM CDT for Howard 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
May 31, 2003, 9:04 PM CDT (02:04 UTC)
Expired
Jun 1, 2003, 12:00 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Howard County, TX

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:04 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

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 83 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, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 2003-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 470 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 2003-06-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 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
470 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3647 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-9 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 KMAF 010205
FFWMAF
TXC227-010500-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
904 PM CDT SAT MAY 31 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  HOWARD COUNTY IN WEST TEXAS

* UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT

* AT 904 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR DETECTED THUNDERSTORMS
  PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL 4 MILES SOUTH OF LUTHER...OR ABOUT 10
  MILES NORTH OF BIG SPRING...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE...
  LUTHER AND VINCENT

DO NOT DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR
IN AUTOMOBILES.

LAT...LON 3241 10159 3217 10160 3229 10129 3249 10119
          3249 10162

$$
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS74 KMAF 010432
FFSMAF
TXC115-227-010615-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
1130 PM CDT SAT MAY 31 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR CENTRAL DAWSON AND HOWARD
COUNTIES UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT...

AT 1130 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO 
DETECT HEAVY RAINFALL MOVING ACROSS DAWSON COUNTY...MOST RAIN HAS 
GENERALLY ENDED ACROSS HOWARD COUNTY. HEAVY RAINS ACROSS THESE 
COUNTIES RESULTED IN AREAS OF FLOODING EARLIER...AND EVEN THOUGH THE 
HEAVY RAIN ARE COMING TO AN END IT WILL STILL TAKE SEVERAL MORE 
HOURS FOR FLOOD WATERS TO SUBSIDE ACROSS DAWSON AND HOWARD COUNTIES.

TRAVELERS ARE URGED TO USE CAUTION...DO NOT DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED 
ROADWAYS AS IT HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGER OF FLASH FLOODING AT 
NIGHT. MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.

LAT...LON 3294 10174 3251 10144 3251 10119 3210 10118
          3209 10168 3251 10167 3254 10148 3286 10174
          3259 10173 3261 10210 3294 10212

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 7:32 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFMidland3 hr
May 31, 7:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMidland56 min
May 31, 7:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMartin66 min
May 31, 8:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFHoward66 min
May 31, 8:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFDawson53 min
May 31, 8:59 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFDawson3 hr
May 31, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFDawson60 min
Jun 1, 2:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFPecos63 min
Jun 1, 3:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFBrewster54 min
Jun 1, 3:40 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFPecos3 hr
Jun 1, 4:05 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFBrewster3 hr
Jun 1, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFPecos59 min
Jun 1, 5:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFTerrell63 min
Jun 1, 5:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGaines58 min
Jun 1, 6:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFDawson, Martin66 min

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.