Alert archive / Texas / Rip Current Statements in 2018

Rip Current Statement 2, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

March 24, 20184 counties in Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this rip current statement at Mar 24, 2018, 6:38 PM CDT for 4 counties in Texas. It was in force for 46 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 24, 2018, 6:38 PM CDT (23:38 UTC)
Expired
Mar 26, 2018, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
46 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 23:36 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, 11.6 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 2018-03-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 27 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 2018-03-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 151 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
27 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-642 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
587 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
262 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

627 
WHUS44 KHGX 242338
CFWHGX

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
638 PM CDT SAT MAR 24 2018

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING...

.A STRONG AND PERSISTENT ONSHORE FLOW WILL CREATE A HIGH RISK FOR RIP 
CURRENTS ALONG GULF FACING BEACHES THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. BEACHGOERS
SHOULD MAKE SURE TO SWIM NEAR A LIFEGUARD IF ENTERING THE WATER.

TXZ214-236>238-252300-
/O.NEW.KHGX.RP.S.0002.180324T2338Z-180325T2300Z/
BRAZORIA-CHAMBERS-GALVESTON-MATAGORDA-
638 PM CDT SAT MAR 24 2018

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK, WHICH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY
AFTERNOON. 

* TIMING...THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING.

* IMPACTS...HAZARDOUS SWIMMING CONDITIONS ON 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.

&&

$$
1 follow-up statement
891 
WHUS44 KHGX 252115
CFWHGX

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
415 PM CDT SUN MAR 25 2018

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON...

.A STRONG AND PERSISTENT ONSHORE FLOW WILL CREATE A HIGH RISK FOR
RIP CURRENTS ALONG GULF FACING BEACHES THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON.
BEACHGOERS SHOULD MAKE SURE TO SWIM NEAR A LIFEGUARD IF ENTERING
THE WATER.

TXZ214-236>238-262200-
/O.EXT.KHGX.RP.S.0002.000000T0000Z-180326T2200Z/
BRAZORIA-CHAMBERS-GALVESTON-MATAGORDA-
415 PM CDT SUN MAR 25 2018

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK NOW IN EFFECT THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON...

* TIMING...THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON.

* IMPACTS...HAZARDOUS SWIMMING CONDITIONS ON 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 24, 10:11 AM CDTSmall Craft AdvisoryHGX3 hr

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Texas, 2018Every rip current statement in 2018

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.