Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 2013

Flash Flood Warning 18, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 13, 2013Austin County, Waller County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this flash flood warning at Oct 13, 2013, 6:33 AM CDT for Austin County, Waller County, Texas. It was in force for 117 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Oct 13, 2013, 6:33 AM CDT (11:33 UTC)
Expired: Oct 13, 2013, 8:30 AM CDT
In force: 117 min
Issued by: NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area: Storm-based polygon
Flood severity: None

Counties Austin County, TX, Waller County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:35 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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 273 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: 1510 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1079 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 52 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 4.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 Oct 13, 5:08 AM CDT, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 13, 5:08 AM CDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 13, 3:57 AM CDT, 2 hours 36 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 13, 2:50 AM CDT, 3 hours 43 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
250 AM CDT SUN OCT 13 2013

TXZ196-198-130830-
BRAZOS-GRIMES-
250 AM CDT SUN OCT 13 2013

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR BRAZOS AND GRIMES COUNTIES...

AT 248 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR COLLEGE STATION...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
COLLEGE STATION...BRYAN...BEDIAS...WIXON VALLEY...KYLE FIELD...
IOLA...ROANS PRAIRIE...AND CARLOS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY LEAD
TO FLASH FLOODING. TURN AROUND AND DON/T DROWN! DO NOT DRIVE YOUR
VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS.

FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM.
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE 15 MILES AWAY FROM A THUNDERSTORM. SEEK A SAFE
SHELTER INSIDE A BUILDING OR VEHICLE.

THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND
TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS...FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

&&

LAT...LON 3054 9635 3074 9636 3081 9593 3051 9592
TIME...MOT...LOC 0748Z 266DEG 15KT 3064 9626

40

Special weather statement, Oct 13, 6:22 AM CDT, 11 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 12, 7:28 PM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	HGX	Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, Walker	2 hr
Oct 13, 1:45 AM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	HGX	Brazos, Madison	2 hr
Oct 13, 2:41 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Madison	2 hr
Oct 13, 2:50 AM CDT	Special Weather Statement	HGX	Brazos, Grimes	40 min
Oct 13, 2:58 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Brazos, Grimes	32 min
Oct 13, 3:24 AM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	HGX	Brazos, Grimes	111 min
Oct 13, 4:45 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Madison	2 hr
Oct 13, 5:27 AM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	HGX	Austin, Harris, Waller, Washington	2 hr
Oct 13, 5:55 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Waller	3 hr
Oct 13, 6:22 AM CDT	Special Weather Statement	HGX	Austin, Waller	38 min
Oct 13, 7:43 AM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	HGX	Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Montgomery, Washington	62 min
Oct 13, 8:33 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Austin, Colorado, Waller	3 hr
Oct 13, 9:40 AM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	HGX	Austin, Colorado, Jackson, Waller, Wharton	3 hr
Oct 13, 10:11 AM CDT	Flash Flood Watch	HGX	Austin, Brazoria, Colorado, Fort Bend, Jackson, Matagorda and 3 more	9 hr
Oct 13, 11:23 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Austin, Colorado, Wharton	3 hr
Oct 13, 1:45 PM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	HGX	Brazoria, Jackson, Matagorda, Wharton	2 hr
Oct 13, 2:56 PM CDT	River Flood Warning	HGX	Austin, Fort Bend, Wharton	5 days

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 2013 Every flash flood warning in 2013

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.