Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 73, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

September 7, 2003Midland County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at Sep 7, 2003, 6:38 PM CDT for Midland 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 7, 2003, 6:38 PM CDT (23:38 UTC)
Expired: Sep 7, 2003, 9:30 PM CDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Midland County, TX

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 11 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:42 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 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 12 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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -255 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1506 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 22 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 072339
FFWMAF
TXC329-080230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
638 PM CDT SUN SEP 7 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 930 PM CDT

* AT 636 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING
  VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHERN MIDLAND COUNTY. 
  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. FLOODING HAS BEEN
  REPORTED IN THE CITY OF MIDLAND AT FAIRGROUNDS ROAD AND LOOP 250...WITH
  STALLED CARS ON THE ROAD.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE...
  COTTON FLAT...GREENWOOD...MIDLAND...MIDLAND INTERNATIONAL
  AIRPORT...AND SPRABERRY

MOTORISTS WILL ENCOUNTER RAPIDLY RISING WATER IN UNDERPASSES...
INTERSECTIONS AND OTHER FLOOD PRONE AREAS. 

IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND TO
ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. NEVER ATTEMPT TO DRIVE OVER A FLOODED ROAD THE
ROAD MAY BE WASHED OUT.

LAT...LON 3204 10225 3180 10226 3175 10181 3205 10179

$$

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS74 KMAF 080201
FFSMAF
TXC329-080230-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
900 PM CDT SUN SEP 7 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR MIDLAND COUNTY UNTIL 930 PM
CDT...

AT 854 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED THE RAINFALL 
HAD ENDED ACROSS MUCH OF MIDLAND COUNTY. HOWEVER...FLOODING ACROSS 
LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS MAY STILL OCCUR AS RUNOFF 
CONTINUES FROM THE HEAVY RAINS EARLIER THIS EVENING.

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

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS DIFFICULT TO RECOGNIZE 
FLOOD DANGERS. 

LAT...LON 3164 10230 3208 10230 3210 10203 3208 10177
          3166 10175

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 7, 4:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Andrews	52 min
Sep 7, 4:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Brewster	55 min
Sep 7, 4:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Pecos	36 min
Sep 7, 5:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Andrews	66 min
Sep 7, 5:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Martin	41 min
Sep 7, 5:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Midland	55 min
Sep 7, 6:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Midland	44 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.