Alert archive / Texas / Red Flag Warnings in 2016

Red Flag Warning 4, NWS Brownsville, TX

February 3, 20168 counties in Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this red flag warning at Feb 3, 2016, 2:22 PM CST for 8 counties in Texas. It was in force for 4 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 3, 2016, 2:22 PM CST (20:22 UTC)
Expired
Feb 3, 2016, 6:00 PM CST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX

Counties Brooks County, TX, Cameron County, TX, Hidalgo County, TX, Jim Hogg County, TX, Kenedy County, TX, Starr County, TX, Willacy County, TX, Zapata County, TX

The radar

The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:20 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

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 120 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 2016-02-03Temperature 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 2016-02-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -126 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
2372 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

725 
WWUS84 KBRO 032022
RFWBRO

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
222 PM CST WED FEB 3 2016

...INCREASED THREAT OF RAPID WILDFIRE SPREAD THIS AFTERNOON...

.THE COMBINATION OF GUSTY NORTH WINDS...RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES
FALLING INTO THE TEENS...AND RAPIDLY DRYING GRASSLAND AND BRUSH
WILL INCREASE THE CHANCE FOR RAPID GROWTH OF WILDFIRES THIS
AFTERNOON ACROSS MUCH OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS.

TXZ248>255-040000-
/O.NEW.KBRO.FW.W.0004.160203T2022Z-160204T0000Z/
ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY-
INLAND CAMERON-
222 PM CST WED FEB 3 2016

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR 
THE COMBINATION OF RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES AT OR BELOW 15
PERCENT...GUSTY NORTH WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH...AND DRYING 
VEGETATION...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING. 

* AFFECTED AREA...FIRE WEATHER ZONES 248...249...250...251... 
  252...253...254 AND 255. 

* WIND...NORTH WINDS FROM 15 TO 25 MPH.

* HUMIDITY...RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL FALL TO NEAR 15 PERCENT
  OR LOWER THROUGH 6 PM.

* HIGHEST THREAT...IS LOCATED FROM INTERSTATE 69 EAST EXTENDING
  WEST TO ZAPATA COUNTY. 

* IMPACTS...ANY FIRES THAT DEVELOP WILL LIKELY SPREAD RAPIDLY. 
  OUTDOOR BURNING IS NOT RECOMMENDED.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY.  IN GENERAL...THESE CONDITIONS
INCLUDE SUSTAINED 20 FOOT WINDS OF 25 MPH OR GREATER...HUMIDITY
RANGING FROM BELOW 25 PERCENT IN ZAPATA COUNTY TO BELOW
45 PERCENT ALONG THE COAST...EACH LASTING FOR 2 HOURS OR MORE...
AND CURED FUELS.  HUMIDITY BELOW 25 PERCENT IN MOST AREAS WILL
TRIGGER FIRE DANGER AT LOWER WIND SPEEDS.  DETAILED DECISION
TABLES ARE FOUND AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RGV/?N=MAPCOLORS#FIRE.

&&

$$
1 follow-up statement
234 
WWUS84 KBRO 040010
RFWBRO

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
610 PM CST WED FEB 3 2016

...RED FLAG CONDITIONS END...

.WINDS HAVE DECREASED ACROSS THE REGION THIS EVENING.

TXZ248>255-040115-
/O.EXP.KBRO.FW.W.0004.000000T0000Z-160204T0000Z/
ZAPATA-JIM HOGG-BROOKS-KENEDY-STARR-HIDALGO-INLAND WILLACY-
INLAND CAMERON-
610 PM CST WED FEB 3 2016

...RED FLAG WARNING HAS EXPIRED FOR THE COMBINATION OF RELATIVE
HUMIDITY VALUES AT OR BELOW 15 PERCENT...GUSTY NORTH WINDS OF
15 TO 25 MPH...AND DRYING VEGETATION...

WINDS HAVE DECREASED THIS EVENING. CONDITIONS MAY BE SLIGHTLY
BETTER ON THURSDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE SPREADS OVER THE AREA AND
WINDS WEAKEN SLIGHTLY. NONETHELESS...RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL
REMAIN DEPRESSED WITH VEGETATION CONTINUING TO DRY. 

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 2, 9:34 PM CSTSmall Craft AdvisoryBRO48 hr
Feb 3, 4:01 AM CSTSmall Craft Advisory for WindsBRO12 hr

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Texas, 2016Every red flag warning in 2016

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.