Alert archive / Texas / Rip Current Statements in 2016

Rip Current Statement 8, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

November 29, 20164 counties in Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this rip current statement at Nov 29, 2016, 9:00 AM CST for 4 counties in Texas. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Nov 29, 2016, 9:00 AM CST (15:00 UTC)
Expired: Nov 29, 2016, 6:00 PM CST
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 15:01 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, 3.0 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1340 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 590 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 132 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 149 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.2
Supercell composite: 6.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

656
WHUS44 KHGX 291500
CFWHGX

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
900 AM CST TUE NOV 29 2016

...HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS, WAVE RUN UP AND ELEVATED TIDES TODAY...

.HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS EXPECTED ALONG THE BEACHFRONT TODAY. ELEVATED WINDS... SURF... WATER LEVELS AND RIP CURRENTS ARE EXPECTED. ASK A LIFEGUARD BEFORE ENTERING THE WATER.

TXZ214-236>238-300000-
/O.NEW.KHGX.RP.S.0008.161129T1500Z-161130T0000Z/
CHAMBERS-MATAGORDA-BRAZORIA-GALVESTON-
900 AM CST TUE NOV 29 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 THIS EVENING.
* IMPACTS...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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 28, 10:27 PM CST	Dense Fog Advisory	HGX	Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Jackson and 3 more	10 hr
Nov 28, 11:32 PM CST	Marine Dense Fog Advisory	HGX		8 hr
Nov 29, 4:05 AM CST	Small Craft Advisory	HGX		11 hr
Nov 29, 7:38 AM CST	Special Weather Statement	HGX	Brazos, Madison, Trinity, Walker	52 min
Nov 29, 8:22 AM CST	Special Weather Statement	HGX	Trinity	38 min
Nov 29, 8:34 AM CST	Dense Fog Advisory	HGX	Austin, Colorado, Fort Bend, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and 2 more	86 min
Nov 29, 3:50 PM CST	Small Craft Advisory	HGX		4 hr
Nov 29, 3:50 PM CST	Small Craft Advisory	HGX		26 hr

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Texas, 2016 Every 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.