Alert archive / Texas / Rip Current Statements in 2016

Rip Current Statement 7, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

November 18, 20164 counties in Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this rip current statement at Nov 18, 2016, 10:45 AM CST for 4 counties in Texas. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 18, 2016, 10:45 AM CST (16:45 UTC)
Expired
Nov 18, 2016, 6:00 PM CST
In force
7 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 16:45 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, 4.8 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 2016-11-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 597 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 2016-11-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 169 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
597 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-218 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
755 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

721 
WHUS44 KHGX 181645
CFWHGX

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1045 AM CST FRI NOV 18 2016

...STRONG RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS TODAY...

.GALVESTON BEACH CONTROL IS FLYING RED FLAGS TODAY, DUE TO 
STRONG RIP CURRENTS. SWIM NEAR LIFE GUARD AND AWAY FROM ROCKS, 
JETTIES, AND PIERS.

TXZ214-236>238-190000-
/O.NEW.KHGX.RP.S.0007.161118T1645Z-161119T0000Z/
BRAZORIA-CHAMBERS-GALVESTON-MATAGORDA-
1045 AM CST FRI NOV 18 2016

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

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

* TIMING...THROUGH 6PM THIS EVENING

* IMPACTS...STRONG RIP CURRENTS AND HAZARDOUS SWIMMING CONDITIONS

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
Nov 17, 9:29 PM CSTGale WatchHGX16 hr
Nov 17, 9:29 PM CSTSmall Craft AdvisoryHGX9 hr
Nov 18, 1:46 PM CSTGale WarningHGX19 hr
Nov 18, 1:46 PM CSTSmall Craft AdvisoryHGX28 hr
Nov 18, 2:38 PM CSTSpecial Weather StatementHGXMatagorda, Wharton22 min
Nov 18, 3:02 PM CSTWind AdvisoryHGXBrazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Harris, Jackson, Matagorda18 hr
Nov 18, 3:26 PM CSTSpecial Weather StatementHGXBrazoria49 min
Nov 18, 4:15 PM CSTSpecial Weather StatementHGXGalveston45 min
Nov 18, 4:29 PM CSTSpecial Marine WarningHGX91 min
Nov 18, 4:54 PM CSTSpecial Marine WarningHGX96 min

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.