Alert archive / Texas / Rip Current Statements in 2015

Rip Current Statement 6, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 2, 20154 counties in Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this rip current statement at Oct 2, 2015, 9:25 AM CDT for 4 counties in Texas. It was in force for 15 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 2, 2015, 9:25 AM CDT (14:25 UTC)
Expired
Oct 3, 2015, 12:00 AM CDT
In force
15 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 14:28 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, 2.4 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 2015-10-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2015-10-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -40 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1473 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-7 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.

741 
WHUS44 KHGX 021425
CFWHGX

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
925 AM CDT FRI OCT 2 2015

...STRONG RIP CURRENTS EXPECTED...

.STRONG RIP CURRENTS ARE EXPECTED TODAY ALONG THE GULF FACING SHORES.

TXZ214-236>238-022230-
/O.NEW.KHGX.RP.S.0006.151002T1425Z-151003T0500Z/
BRAZORIA-CHAMBERS-GALVESTON-MATAGORDA-
925 AM CDT FRI OCT 2 2015

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING...

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

* TIMING...THIS MORNING THROUGH MIDNIGHT.

* IMPACTS...RIP CURRENTS ARE POWERFUL CHANNELS OF WATER FLOWING 
QUICKLY AWAY FROM SHORE WHICH OCCUR MOST OFTEN AT LOW SPOTS OR 
BREAKS IN THE SANDBAR OR NEAR GROINS OR PIERS AND JETTIES. DO NOT 
SWIM NEAR THESE FEATURES. SWIM NEAR A LIFEGUARD.

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.

&&

$$

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.