Alert archive / Texas / Rip Current Statements in 2020

Rip Current Statement 55, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

December 15, 2020Brazoria County, Galveston County, Matagorda County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this rip current statement at Dec 15, 2020, 9:56 AM CST for Brazoria County, Galveston County, Matagorda County, Texas. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 15, 2020, 9:56 AM CST (15:56 UTC)
Expired
Dec 15, 2020, 6:00 PM CST
In force
8 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 15:57 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, 3.9 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 2020-12-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2020-12-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 320 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
781 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
320 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
464 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

021 
WHUS44 KHGX 151556
CFWHGX

Coastal Hazard Message
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
956 AM CST Tue Dec 15 2020

TXZ436>438-160000-
/O.NEW.KHGX.RP.S.0055.201215T1556Z-201216T0000Z/
Matagorda Islands-Brazoria Islands-
Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula-
956 AM CST Tue Dec 15 2020

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

* WHAT...Dangerous rip currents.

* WHERE...Gulf facing beaches along the Matagorda Islands,
  Brazoria Islands and Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula.

* WHEN...Until 6 PM CST this evening.

* IMPACTS...Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away 
  from shore into deeper water.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Swim near a lifeguard. If caught in a rip current, relax and
float. Don't swim against the current. If able, swim in a
direction following the shoreline. If unable to escape, face the
shore and call or wave for help.

&&

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 15, 2:11 PM CSTSmall Craft AdvisoryHGX25 hr

Nearby

Rip Current Statements in Texas, 2020Every rip current statement 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.