Alert archive / Texas / Red Flag Warnings in 2009

Red Flag Warning 13, NWS Brownsville, TX

February 28, 20096 counties in Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this red flag warning at Feb 28, 2009, 4:00 AM CST for 6 counties in Texas. It took effect at Feb 28, 2009, 12:00 PM CST. It was in force for 6 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
Feb 28, 2009, 4:00 AM CST (10:00 UTC)
In effect from
Feb 28, 2009, 12:00 PM CST
Expired
Feb 28, 2009, 6:00 PM CST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX

Counties Brooks County, TX, Hidalgo County, TX, Jim Hogg County, TX, Kenedy County, TX, Starr County, TX, Zapata County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:00 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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 148 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2009-02-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 884 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2009-02-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 56 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
884 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-372 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1900 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
97 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 281000
RFWBRO

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
400 AM CST SAT FEB 28 2009

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON...

.DRY AIR BEHIND A COLD FRONT...COMBINED WITH STRONGER WINDS AND
ABUNDANT CURED FUELS...WILL PRODUCE AN ELEVATED RISK OF WILDFIRES
ACROSS MUCH OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS.

TXZ248>253-281800-
/O.UPG.KBRO.FW.A.0015.090228T1800Z-090301T0000Z/
/O.NEW.KBRO.FW.W.0013.090228T1800Z-090301T0000Z/
ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-
400 AM CST SAT FEB 28 2009

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 PM CST THIS
EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 PM CST THIS
EVENING. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. 

A COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP THROUGH DEEP SOUTH TEXAS AROUND MID-
MORNING TODAY...PRODUCING INCREASED NORTHERLY WINDS IN ITS WAKE
AND USHERING IN MUCH COOLER AND DRIER AIR. THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY
LEVELS WITHIN THE RED FLAG WARNING AREA WILL DROP INTO THE 20 TO
30 PERCENT RANGE BY THIS AFTERNOON. MEANWHILE...THE NORTH WINDS
WILL INCREASE INTO THE 20 TO 25 MPH RANGE BY LATE THIS MORNING.

THESE METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS...COMBINED WITH ABUNDANT CURED
FUELS...MAY PRODUCE A DANGEROUS RISK OF WILDFIRES ACROSS MUCH OF
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON. 

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
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.

&&

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 27, 7:41 PM CSTSmall Craft AdvisoryBRO46 hr
Feb 28, 3:43 AM CSTMarine Weather StatementBRO14 hr

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Texas, 2009Every red flag warning in 2009

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.