Alert archive / Texas / Rip Current Statements in 2016

Rip Current Statement 4, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

September 6, 2016Brazoria County, Galveston County, Matagorda County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this rip current statement at Sep 6, 2016, 9:40 AM CDT for Brazoria County, Galveston County, Matagorda County, Texas. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 6, 2016, 9:40 AM CDT (14:40 UTC)
Expired
Sep 6, 2016, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

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

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:42 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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 241 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2016-09-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2262 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2016-09-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -65 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
2262 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
833 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-65 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-29 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

876 
WHUS44 KHGX 061440
CFWHGX

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
940 AM CDT TUE SEP 6 2016

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK TODAY...

.VERY STRONG RIP CURRENTS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED ON GALVESTON BEACH.
USE CAUTION IF GOING INTO THE WATER AT GULF FACING BEACHES.

TXZ236>238-062245-
/O.NEW.KHGX.RP.S.0004.160906T1440Z-160906T2300Z/
BRAZORIA-GALVESTON-MATAGORDA-
940 AM CDT TUE SEP 6 2016

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CDT THIS
EVENING. 

* TIMING...THIS MORNING THROUGH LATE THIS AFTERNOON.

* IMPACTS...LIFE THREATENING ENHANCED RIP CURRENTS ALONG AREA BEACHES.

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, 2016Every rip current statement 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.