Alert archive / Texas / Rip Current Statements in 2015

Rip Current Statement 8, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 20, 20154 counties in Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this rip current statement at Oct 20, 2015, 10:25 AM CDT for 4 counties in Texas. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 20, 2015, 10:25 AM CDT (15:25 UTC)
Expired
Oct 20, 2015, 7:00 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 15:25 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, 3.4 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 2015-10-20Temperature 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 2015-10-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 80 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
894 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
151 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.

517 
WHUS44 KHGX 201525
CFWHGX

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1025 AM CDT TUE OCT 20 2015

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK AND COASTAL FLOODING POSSIBLE...

.MODERATE EAST WINDS AND HIGH SURF WILL RESULT IN A HIGH RIP
CURRENT RISK ALONG THE UPPER TEXAS COAST. COASTAL FLOODING
IS POSSIBLE IN AND AROUND THE LOW AREAS OF BOLIVAR PENINSULA.

TXZ238-210330-
/O.NEW.KHGX.CF.Y.0002.151020T1525Z-151022T0000Z/
/O.NEW.KHGX.RP.S.0008.151020T1525Z-151021T0000Z/
GALVESTON-
1025 AM CDT TUE OCT 20 2015

...COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT WEDNESDAY...
...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT
WEDNESDAY. A HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK HAS ALSO BEEN ISSUED. THIS
HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING. THESE 
MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED IN TIME. 

* TIMING...STRONG RIP CURRENTS THROUGH THIS EVENING. COASTAL FLOODING 
  THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

* IMPACTS...STRONG RIP CURRENTS...ESPECIALLY NEAR PIERS...JETTIES AND 
  ROCK GROINS WILL MAKE SWIMMING POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS EVEN TO THE 
  MOST MOST EXPERIENCED SWIMMERS. ONSHORE WINDS AND TIDES WILL COMBINE 
  TO GENERATE FLOODING OF LOW AREAS ALONG THE SHORE. WATER HAS BEEN
  REPORTED OVER THE ROAD AT THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 87 AND HIGHWAY 
  124 ON THE BOLIVAR PENINSULA.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY INDICATES THAT ONSHORE WINDS AND TIDES
WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE FLOODING OF LOW AREAS ALONG THE SHORE.

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.

&&

$$

TXZ214-236-237-210000-
/O.NEW.KHGX.RP.S.0008.151020T1525Z-151021T0000Z/
BRAZORIA-CHAMBERS-MATAGORDA-
1025 AM CDT TUE OCT 20 2015

...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. THIS MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED IN TIME.

* TIMING...THROUGH THIS EVENING.

* IMPACTS...STRONG RIP CURRENTS...ESPECIALLY NEAR PIERS...JETTIES AND 
  ROCK GROINS WILL MAKE SWIMMING POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS EVEN TO THE 
  MOST MOST EXPERIENCED SWIMMERS. IN ADDITION TIDES AND SURF WILL 
  BE ELEVATED.

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.

&&

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 20, 10:25 AM CDTCoastal Flood AdvisoryHGXBrazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Harris, Matagorda4 days
Oct 20, 3:43 PM CDTSmall Craft AdvisoryHGX3 days

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.