Alert archive / Texas / Red Flag Warnings in 2008

Red Flag Warning 21, NWS Brownsville, TX

April 17, 20086 counties in Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this red flag warning at Apr 17, 2008, 7:35 PM CDT for 6 counties in Texas. It was in force for 4 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 17, 2008, 7:35 PM CDT (00:35 UTC)
Expired: Apr 18, 2008, 12:00 AM CDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: NWS Brownsville, TX

Counties Brooks County, TX, Cameron County, TX, Hidalgo County, TX, Kenedy County, TX, Starr County, TX, Willacy County, TX

The radar

The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:35 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

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 96 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: 154 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -371 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 919 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 76 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 232 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 
WWUS84 KBRO 180035
RFWBRO

RED FLAG WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
735 PM CDT THU APR 17 2008

...STRONG WINDS TO PERSIST UNTIL MIDNIGHT ACROSS DEEP SOUTH 
TEXAS...

.STRONG SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS ARE FORECAST TO PERSIST THIS
EVENING IN ADVANCE OF A COLD FRONT. THE TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT
COUPLED WITH A LOW LEVEL JET WILL MAINTAIN STRONG WINDS THE NEXT 3
TO 6 HOURS. THE PRESSURE GRADIENT RELAXES WITH WINDS EXPECTED TO
SLOWLY RELAX AFTER MIDNIGHT AS THE FRONT MOVES INTO THE TEXAS HILL
COUNTRY AND NEARS SOUTH TEXAS.

TXZ250>257-180500-
/O.NEW.KBRO.FW.W.0021.080418T0035Z-080418T0500Z/
BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY-INLAND CAMERON-
COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON-
735 PM CDT THU APR 17 2008

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT TONIGHT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT TONIGHT. 

SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS OF 20 TO 25 MPH WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS OF
30 TO 35 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH MIDNIGHT. THE COMBINATION OF
THE STRONG WINDS AND DRY FUELS...CONDITIONS ARE PRESENT FOR
ERRATIC TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR THROUGH MIDNIGHT.


A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. THESE CONDITIONS
INCLUDE SUSTAINED 20 FOOT WINDS OF 25 MPH OR GREATER AND CURED
FUELS...OR THE COMBINATION OF RELATIVE HUMIDITY BELOW 35 PERCENT
FOR 2 HOURS OR MORE AND SUSTAINED 20 FOOT WINDS OF 25 MPH OR
HIGHER WHEN FUELS ARE NOT CURED. THESE CONDITIONS WILL CREATE
EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

$$

1 follow-up statement

000 
WWUS84 KBRO 180512
RFWBRO

RED FLAG WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
1212 AM CDT FRI APR 18 2008

...WILDFIRE DANGER LESSENED WITH DECREASE IN WINDS...

.WITH UPSTREAM HIGH PRESSURE APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST...LOW
PRESSURE HAS MOVED OVER THE AREA...RESULTING IN LESS OF A PRESSURE
GRADIENT AND WEAKER WINDS. HENCE...THE RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN
ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.

TXZ250>257-180615-
/O.EXP.KBRO.FW.W.0021.000000T0000Z-080418T0500Z/
BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY-INLAND CAMERON-
COASTAL WILLACY-COASTAL CAMERON-
1212 AM CDT FRI APR 18 2008

...RED FLAG WARNING HAS EXPIRED...

THE RED FLAG WARNING IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. 

WINDS HAVE DECREASED IN RESPONSE TO A WEAKENING PRESSURE GRADIENT.
THEREFORE...THE RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE. WINDS
WILL SWITCH TO NORTH LATER TODAY IN THE WAKE OF A COLD FRONT...AND
FIRE CREWS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR ERRATIC WILDFIRE BEHAVIOR DUE TO
THIS CHANGE IN CONDITIONS.

$$

54/61

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Texas, 2008 Every red flag warning in 2008

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.