Alert archive / Texas / Rip Current Statements in 2015

Rip Current Statement 5, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

September 29, 20154 counties in Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this rip current statement at Sep 29, 2015, 12:09 PM CDT for 4 counties in Texas. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 29, 2015, 12:09 PM CDT (17:09 UTC)
Expired
Sep 29, 2015, 8:42 PM CDT
In force
9 hr
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

Counties Brazoria County, TX, Chambers County, TX, Galveston County, TX, Matagorda County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 30 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:11 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, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 219 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 2015-09-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1267 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2015-09-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 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
1267 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
547 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

127 
WHUS44 KHGX 291709
CFWHGX

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1209 PM CDT TUE SEP 29 2015

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

.NORTHEAST TO EAST WINDS WITH SWELLS FROM THE EAST WILL SUPPORT
RIP CURRENTS ALONG THE UPPER TEXAS COAST. TIDE LEVELS WILL ALSO BE
ABOUT 1 FOOT ABOVE NORMAL. BEACHES AFFECTED WILL BE MAINLY GULF
FACING BEACHES ESPECIALLY ALONG GALVESTON ISLAND WHERE THERE ARE
SEVERAL JETTIES. STAY AWAY FROM JETTIES...PIERS AND ROCK GROINS
WHERE THE RIP CURRENTS WILL BE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE. IF YOU DO NOT
KNOW HOW TO SWIM...PLEASE DO NOT GO IN THE WATER. THOSE THAT DO
SHOULD SWIM CLOSE TO SHORE AND NEAR A LIFEGUARD.

TXZ214-236>238-300200-
/O.NEW.KHGX.RP.S.0005.150929T1709Z-150930T0200Z/
BRAZORIA-CHAMBERS-GALVESTON-MATAGORDA-
1209 PM CDT TUE SEP 29 2015

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS
EVENING. 

* TIMING...THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

* IMPACTS...HAZARDOUS RIP CURRENTS TO EVEN EXPERIENCED SWIMMERS...
  ESPECIALLY NEAR ROCK GROINS...JETTIES AND PIERS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS. LIFE THREATENING RIP
CURRENTS ARE LIKELY IN THE SURF ZONE.
               
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 GROINS...
JETTIES AND PIERS. HEED THE ADVICE OF LIFEGUARDS...BEACH PATROL...
FLAGS AND SIGNS. SWIM NEAR A LIFEGUARD.
               
IF YOU BECOME CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT...YELL FOR HELP. REMAIN
CALM...DO NOT EXHAUST YOURSELF AND STAY AFLOAT WHILE WAITING FOR
HELP. IF YOU HAVE TO SWIM OUT OF A RIP CURRENT...SWIM PARALLEL TO
SHORE AND BACK TOWARD THE BEACH WHEN POSSIBLE. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
SWIM DIRECTLY AGAINST A RIP CURRENT AS YOU WILL TIRE QUICKLY.

&&

$$
1 follow-up statement
355 
WHUS44 KHGX 300142
CFWHGX

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
842 PM CDT TUE SEP 29 2015

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IS CANCELLED...


TXZ214-236>238-300245-
/O.CAN.KHGX.RP.S.0005.000000T0000Z-150930T0200Z/
BRAZORIA-CHAMBERS-GALVESTON-MATAGORDA-
842 PM CDT TUE SEP 29 2015

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IS CANCELLED...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS CANCELLED
THE HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK. 

$$

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Texas, 2015Every rip current statement in 2015

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.