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National Weather Service (NWS)
The West Gulf RFC was founded in September 1961 at Fort Worth, Texas, to assume hydrologic forecast responsibility for the Rio Grande basin and the Texas rivers which drain into the Gulf of Mexico. Previously, this area was served by several River District Offices (RDOs) with long, narrow areas of responsibility, none of which had a full-time hydrology position. The floods of April-May 1957 across the entire southwestern United States appear to have motivated the formation of the WGRFC. A detailed report on "River Forecasting and Hydrometeorlogical Analysis" to the Select Committee on National Water Resources of the U.S. Senate, dated Novmeber 1959, was probably also a factor, because it showed New Mexico and most of Texas as an area not covered by an RFC and clearly defined a need to complete RFC coverage for the entire nation.
In the mid-1960s, the WGRFC was the first Weather Bureau field office to receive a computer system -- an IBM 1620 -- which was used to develop and execute the first versions of hydrologic models. The operational hydrologic model developed by the WGRFC was soon passed on to several other RFCs, which modified it for their operations. For example, the RIVALL model used by MBRFC was adapted from the Fort Worth model. The WGRFC also developed the basis for the National Flood Forecast Verification System.
The WGRFC area of responsibility has essentially remained unchanged since the RFC was formed in 1961, except for the transfer of the Calcasieu basin to the Lower Mississippi RFC (in Slidell, LA).
Source: Correspondence Course - Operations of the NWS Hydrologic Services Program, National Weather Service
The WGRFC area of responsibility is defined by the numerous Gulf of Mexico draining river basins of Texas along with the New Mexico, Colorado, and Mexico portions of the Rio Grande basin. The WGRFC area of responsiblity covers more than 315,000 square miles (815,000 square kilometers) of land in the United States and over 87,000 square miles (225,000 square kilometers) in Mexico.
A significant variety of climates described in the Köppen system exist across the WGRFC area of responsibility. The eastern portion is classified as humid mesothermal, temperate, with no dry season. In the central portion of its area, the climate gradually changes from middle latitude steppe in the north and subtropical steppe in the south. In the far western portions, climates are highly localized with elevation and range from subtropical desert in the south to middle lattitde steppe and highland climates in the north. In the eastern two-thirds of the area, significant precipitation events can occur during any month of the year, but in the western third they are more concentrated around the summer/early fall thunderstorm season. Heavy winter snowfalls are also common in the Rocky Mountains portion of the area. Hourly records indicate that heavy precipitation events can occur at any time of the day.
Most of the eastern portion of the WGRFC area is low hilly or flat terrain, sloping gradually to the southeast. The western portion of its area is dominated by high mountain ranges separated by wide, semi-arid valleys. In the northwest porton fo the RFC area, the headwaters of the Rio Grande rise in the Rocky Mountains, with some peaks exceeding 14,000 feet (4,300 meters).
Hydrologic events in the WGRFC are are usually caused by excessive rainfall or occasionally by spring snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains. The central and eastern portions of the RFC area are especially vulnerable to storms tapping the abundant moisture of the Gulf of Mexico, and heavy, short-duration and medium-duration events frequently occur. Flash flooding is a common problem of the the entire area. Several major population centers are located along the larger rivers in Texas.
Source: Correspondence Course - Operations of the NWS Hydrologic Services Program, National Weather Service
These are the rivers for which the West Gulf RFC provides river forecasts:Even though the Red River flows through the Texas Panhandle, it is not included in our area of responsibility because the Red is a tributary of the Mississippi River. (Check it out; it's true!)
The WGRFC provides hydrologic support and forecasts for these fifteen weather forecast offices:
Our office is fully staffed at 15 people, distributed like this:
When we're not making forecasts on rivers, we use the time to refine our procedures, to make our computer models better, and try to improve our methods for forecasting so when major flooding does occur, we're ready for it. Some of our current projects include
Because of the nature of hydrology and river forecasting, there can be a lot of "down" time. But our heavy times last much longer than that in a weather forecast office: Their events typically last 8 to 12 hours; ours can last 8 to 12 days, and some are much longer.
