Alert archive / Texas / Red Flag Warnings in 2020

Red Flag Warning 3, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

April 24, 2020Val Verde County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this red flag warning at Apr 24, 2020, 4:38 AM CDT for Val Verde County, Texas. It took effect at Apr 24, 2020, 1:00 PM CDT. It was in force for 6 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 24, 2020, 4:38 AM CDT (09:38 UTC)
In effect from: Apr 24, 2020, 1:00 PM CDT
Expired: Apr 24, 2020, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

County Val Verde County, TX

The radar

The Laughlin AFB radar (KDFX), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:37 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

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 00:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 66 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 3974 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 65 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

620 
WWUS84 KEWX 240938
RFWEWX

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio TX
438 AM CDT Fri Apr 24 2020

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 7 PM CDT
THIS EVENING FOR WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY OVER VAL VERDE
COUNTY...

.A south wind begins the day, but Val Verde county will see an
early afternoon wind shift as a dry cold front arrives. Winds will
initially increase and switch to the west and northwest in the
afternoon, and then shift again to the North and northeast in the
late afternoon and early evening. Strongest winds are expected
during the time of maximum heating, and temperatures in the middle
90s could lead to minimum humidity values as low as the single
digits.

TXZ183-250000-
/O.NEW.KEWX.FW.W.0003.200424T1800Z-200425T0000Z/
Val Verde-
438 AM CDT Fri Apr 24 2020

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 7 PM
CDT THIS EVENING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR VAL VERDE
COUNTY...

The National Weather Service in Austin/San Antonio has issued a
Red Flag Warning for wind and low relative humidity, which is in
effect from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 PM CDT this evening.

* WINDS...Northwest 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 10 percent.

* IMPACTS...In addition to the gusty afternoon wind speeds, the
  shiftiness of the wind direction throughout the day will make 
  fire control efforts challenging.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are either occurring now....or will shortly. A combination of
strong winds...low relative humidity...and warm temperatures can
contribute to extreme fire behavior.

&&

$$

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Texas, 2020 Every red flag warning in 2020

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.