Flash Flood and Hail in Texas, April 16, 2001

Name: Flash Flood and Hail in Texas, April 16, 2001
Start: 2001-04-16T15:46
End: 2001-04-16T22:20
Location: Texas

April 16, 2001 · NWS SJT · 8 events in 2 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS SJT wrote it up.

Several supercells dropped very large hail across sections of the Concho Valley on the afternoon of the 16th. Hail up to baseball size was reported near Wall in eastern Tom Green County, while golf ball size hail was seen near Barnhart in Irion County. In addition to the large hail, rainfall of 2 to 4 inches briefly closed State Highway 163 in western Irion county.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS San Angelo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 16, 1:25 PM CST, 2 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 16, 1:25 PM CST, 2 hours 21 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
225 PM CDT MON APR 16 2001

STRONG ARCTIC FRONT TO BLAST SWRD THRU WEST CNTRL TX TONIGHT...
PRODUCING WIDESPREAD SHOWERS/TSTMS MAINLY SOUTH OF THE BIG COUNTRY.
EARLY AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES ONLY IN THE UPPER 30S/40S ACROSS NE/KS
SO THIS FRONT MEANS BUSINESS. DEWPOINTS AT ABI/SJT/JCT NOW IN THE
UPPER 50S-MID 60S AS LOW LEVEL FLOW HAS BACKED TO SELY. LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE ADVECTING NWRD WILL BE PLENTIFUL LOOKING AT SFC OBS TO OUR
SOUTH AND 12Z KDRT SOUNDING. EXPECT THE COLD FRONT NOW OVER SRN OK
TO MOVE INTO THE BIG COUNTRY LATE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING...THEN
SURGING SWRD INTO THE NRN EDWARDS PLATEAU/NW HILL COUNTRY AROUND
MIDNIGHT. THE CNTRL/SRN ZONES STILL LOOK TO GET THE BULK OF THE
SHOWERS/TSTMS WHERE GREATEST LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CONVERGENCE AND
INSTABILITY WILL COINCIDE AND WHERE OVERRUNNING OVER THE FRONTAL
BOUNDARY WILL BE GREATEST...SO WILL CONTINUE WITH CATEGORICAL POPS
(80-100 PERCENT) THERE. THE ETA CONTINUES TO PAINT THE GREATEST QPF
IN CNTRL/SRN ZONES AS IT HAS DONE FOR THE PAST SEVERAL RUNS AND WITH
THE PRECIPITABLE WATER FORECAST TO INCREASE TO 1.5 INCHES AND FAIRLY
WEAK STEERING WINDS ALOFT...WILL ADD MENTION OF LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL SOUTH OF THE BIG COUNTRY. OVERRUNNING OVER THE COLD FRONT
OCCURS MAINLY TUE MORNING BEFORE DECREASING...SO WILL CONFINE RAIN
CHANCES TO THAT PERIOD. BRISK NELY WINDS AND CLOUD COVER ALONG WITH
STRONG 1032 MB HIGH WILL KEEP HIGH TEMPERATURES SOME 20-30 DEGREES
BLO NORMAL ON TUE. MAY SEE SOME CLEARING ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY TUE
AFTERNOON AS LOW LEVELS DRY. ON WED...SFC LEE TROFFING DEVELOPS
AGAIN AS AN UPPER RIDGE AXIS MOVES OVER THE ROCKIES. THE EROSION OF
THE SHALLOW COLD AIR AND PROXIMITY OF UPPER RIDGE SHOULD PRODUCE
PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND WARMER TEMPERATURES...BUT STILL BLO NORMALS.
DRY/WARMER FOR THU AS THE UPPER RIDGE AXIS MOVES ACROSS TX AND
1000-500 MB THICKNESSES RISE INTO THE 5730-5760 METER RANGE. FRI-SUN
LOOK DRY WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AS SWLY FLOW ALOFT AND
RELATIVELY HIGH UPPER HEIGHTS PREVAIL. THE MRF IS FORECASTING A
PACIFIC ORIGIN COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE ACROSS WEST CNTRL TX NEXT
MONDAY. HOWEVER...500 MB COMPARISON WITH THE PREVIOUS MRF RUN USING
THE AWIPS DPROG/DT SHOWS A LARGE VARIATION IN UPPER TROF/SFC FEATURE
POSITIONING...SO WILL NOT ADD RAIN CHANCES OR COOLER TEMPERATURES
FOR MONDAY SINCE CONFIDENCE IS LOW IN THE CURRENT MODEL SOLUTION FOR
DAY 7.

ABI 045/053/040/069 6200
SJT 051/053/041/070 8600
JCT 055/058/043/069 9600

.SJT...NONE.

RUBIN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 16, 1:38 PM CST, 2 hours 8 minutes before

TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139-140-
154-155-168>170-162300-

WEST CENTRAL TEXAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
238 PM CDT MON APR 16 2001

...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT ACROSS
PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS...

A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE BIG COUNTRY EARLY THIS
EVENING...THEN PUSH SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF WEST
CENTRAL TEXAS BY MIDNIGHT. MEANWHILE...MOISTURE WILL SURGE BACK
NORTHWARD INTO WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON.

A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON...AS DAYTIME
HEATING COMBINES WITH ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE. THE BEST CHANCE OF STORMS
HOWEVER WILL BE AFTER 9 PM...AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES IN.

ENOUGH INSTABILITY AND MOISTURE WILL EXIST OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS TO PRODUCE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS. THIS AREA IS ALONG AND SOUTH OF A STERLING
CITY...WINTERS...SAN SABA LINE. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE
THE PRIMARY THREATS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED..

FOR THE SOUTHWEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO OUTLOOK SEE
PRODUCT LBBSPSMAF. FOR THE SOUTH PLAINS OUTLOOK SEE PRODUCT
LBBSPSLBB. FOR THE CENTRAL OKLAHOMA OUTLOOK SEE PRODUCT OKCSPSOKC.
FOR THE NORTH TEXAS OUTLOOK SEE PRODUCT FTWSPSFTW. FOR THE SOUTH
CENTRAL TEXAS OUTLOOK SEE PRODUCT SATSPSSAT.

04

Special weather statement, Apr 16, 1:41 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes before

TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139-140-
154-155-168>170-162300-

WEST CENTRAL TEXAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
241 PM CDT MON APR 16 2001

...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT ACROSS
PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS...

A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE BIG COUNTRY EARLY THIS
EVENING...THEN PUSH SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF WEST
CENTRAL TEXAS BY MIDNIGHT. MEANWHILE...MOISTURE WILL SURGE BACK
NORTHWARD INTO WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON.

A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON...AS DAYTIME
HEATING COMBINES WITH ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE. THE BEST CHANCE OF STORMS
HOWEVER WILL BE AFTER 9 PM...AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES IN.

ENOUGH INSTABILITY AND MOISTURE WILL EXIST OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS TO PRODUCE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS. THIS AREA IS ALONG AND SOUTH OF A STERLING
CITY...WINTERS...SAN SABA LINE. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE
THE PRIMARY THREATS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED..

FOR THE SOUTHWEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO OUTLOOK SEE
PRODUCT LBBSPSMAF. FOR THE SOUTH PLAINS OUTLOOK SEE PRODUCT
LBBSPSLBB. FOR THE CENTRAL OKLAHOMA OUTLOOK SEE PRODUCT OKCSPSOKC.
FOR THE NORTH TEXAS OUTLOOK SEE PRODUCT FTWSPSFTW. FOR THE SOUTH
CENTRAL TEXAS OUTLOOK SEE PRODUCT SATSPSSAT.

04

The radar

The San Angelo radar (KSJT), 21 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:46 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 hail, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Tom Green

When: April 16, 3:46 PM CST
Where: Tom Green County, 3 mi E of Wall
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 31.367, -100.267

Hail, Tom Green

When: April 16, 3:50 PM CST
Where: Tom Green County, 3 mi SE of Wall
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 31.333, -100.283

Hail, Tom Green

When: April 16, 3:59 PM CST
Where: Tom Green County, Wall
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates: 31.367, -100.317

Hail, Tom Green

When: April 16, 4:05 PM CST
Where: Tom Green County, Wall
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.367, -100.317

Hail up to the size of baseballs was reported near Wall.

Hail, Irion

When: April 16, 5:22 PM CST
Where: Irion County, 5 mi E of Barnhart
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.133, -101.100

Hail, Irion

When: April 16, 9:10 PM CST
Where: Irion County, Barnhart
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 31.133, -101.183

Hail, Irion

When: April 16, 9:54 PM CST
Where: Irion County, Barnhart
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 31.133, -101.183

Flash Flood, Irion

When: April 16, 10:20 PM CST
Where: Irion County, 1 mi N of Barnhart
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.304, -100.982 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rainfall of 2 to 4 inches caused brief flash flooding across western Irion County, forcing the closure of State Highway 163.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, April 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5239895, 5239890, 5239897, 5239891, 5239896, 5239892, 5239893, 5239894.