Alert archive / Texas / Rip Current Statements in 2013

Rip Current Statement 2, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

June 1, 2013Brazoria County, Galveston County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this rip current statement at Jun 1, 2013, 9:43 AM CDT for Brazoria County, Galveston County, Texas. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 1, 2013, 9:43 AM CDT (14:43 UTC)
Expired
Jun 1, 2013, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
9 hr
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

Counties Brazoria County, TX, Galveston County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:44 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

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 210 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2013-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2279 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2013-06-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
2279 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
586 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
110 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.

923 
WHUS44 KHGX 011443
CFWHGX

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
943 AM CDT SAT JUN 1 2013

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK TODAY...

.LARGE SWELLS AND ELEVATED TIDE LEVELS WILL LEAD TO A HIGH
RIP CURRENT RISK TODAY. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE THIS
EVENING AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THE GALVESTON
BEACH PATROL HAS RAISED A RED FLAG ALONG AREA BEACHES. THIS INDICATES
ROUGH AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SURF CONDITIONS. 

TXZ237-238-020000-
/O.NEW.KHGX.RP.S.0002.130601T1443Z-130602T0000Z/
BRAZORIA-GALVESTON-
943 AM CDT SAT JUN 1 2013

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS
EVENING. 

* TIMING...TODAY DIMINISHING DURING THE EVENING.

* IMPACTS...DANGEROUS WATER CONDITIONS WITH STRONG RIP CURRENTS. USE 
  EXTREME CAUTION IF SWIMMING OR SURFING TODAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

RIP CURRENTS ARE POWERFUL CHANNELS OF WATER FLOWING QUICKLY AWAY
FROM SHORE...WHICH OCCUR MOST OFTEN AT LOW SPOTS OR BREAKS IN THE
SANDBAR AND IN THE VICINITY OF STRUCTURES SUCH AS JETTIES AND
PIERS. HEED THE ADVICE OF LIFEGUARDS AND THE BEACH PATROL. PAY
ATTENTION TO FLAGS AND POSTED SIGNS. 

IF YOU BECOME CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT...DO NOT PANIC. REMAIN CALM
AND BEGIN TO SWIM PARALLEL TO SHORE. ONCE YOU ARE AWAY FROM THE
FORCE OF THE RIP CURRENT...BEGIN TO SWIM BACK TO THE BEACH. DO
NOT ATTEMPT TO SWIM DIRECTLY AGAINST A RIP CURRENT. EVEN A STRONG
SWIMMER CAN BECOME EXHAUSTED QUICKLY.

&&

$$

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Texas, 2013Every rip current statement 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.