Alert archive / Texas / Rip Current Statements in 2017

Rip Current Statement 1, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

March 7, 2017Brazoria County, Galveston County, Matagorda County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this rip current statement at Mar 7, 2017, 9:37 AM CST for Brazoria County, Galveston County, Matagorda County, Texas. It was in force for 11 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 7, 2017, 9:37 AM CST (15:37 UTC)
Expired
Mar 7, 2017, 9:00 PM CST
In force
11 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 15:38 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, 3.6 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 2017-03-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1667 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2017-03-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 78 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
1667 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-103 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
484 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
130 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

365 
WHUS44 KHGX 071537
CFWHGX

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
937 AM CST TUE MAR 7 2017

...STRONG RIP CURRENTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED BY GALVESTON BEACH PATROL...

.ROUGH SEAS ARE CREATING RIP CURRENTS ALONG GULF FACING BEACHES. GALVESTON BEACH PATROL HAS REPORTED STRONG RIP CURRENTS AND ARE FLYING RED FLAGS.

TXZ236>238-072345-
/O.NEW.KHGX.RP.S.0001.170307T1537Z-170308T0300Z/
BRAZORIA-GALVESTON-MATAGORDA-
937 AM CST TUE MAR 7 2017

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CST THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK, WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CST THIS
EVENING. 

* TIMING...NOW THROUGH 9 PM CST.

* IMPACTS...HAZARDOUS SWIMMING CONDITIONS ALONG GULF FACING 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.

&&

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 6, 11:45 PM CSTSmall Craft AdvisoryHGX4 hr
Mar 7, 6:21 AM CSTSmall Craft AdvisoryHGX9 hr
Mar 7, 1:11 PM CSTSpecial Weather StatementHGXWaller49 min
Mar 7, 4:12 PM CSTAreal Flood AdvisoryHGXJackson, Wharton2 hr

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Texas, 2017Every rip current statement in 2017

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.