Flash Flood in Texas, August 28, 1996

An early season cold front moved into northern Texas at the end of the month and became stationary across the area for several days. A moist and unstable airmass was already in place and the addition of the low level focusing mechanism resulted in widespread thunderstorm activity during the afternoon through early night hours. The threat of heavy rain was increased by the influx of tropical moisture from Hurricane Dolly that made landfall on the 23rd in Mexico. Slow cell movement and cell training along boundaries also increased the threat of heavy rain. The last five days of the month brought some areas of northern Texas up to nine inches of rain and numerous flooding problems. The Waco area received its seventh wettest August of all time while the Dallas/Fort Worth area received its eighth wettest August of all time. The flash flood threat shifted across the area from day to day based on where low level mesoscale convergence boundaries (both outflow boundaries and the weak front) settled after convective dissipation during the night.Several roads were flooded throughout the county by excessive rains.