Showers and thunderstorms that developed just before midnight produced general 1 to 2 inch rainfall across the two counties. Maximum rainfall amounts approached 5 inches across the northern part of DeWitt County and the western part of Lavaca County.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS EWX wrote it up.
Showers and thunderstorms that developed just before midnight produced general 1 to 2 inch rainfall across the two counties. Maximum rainfall amounts approached 5 inches across the northern part of DeWitt County and the western part of Lavaca County. Flash flooding was brief, but widespread across the two counties, with numerous rural roads and low water crossing reported under water during the early morning hour.
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 Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 29, 8:25 PM CST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 925 PM CDT WED AUG 29 2001 WIDESPREAD BENEFICIAL RAINS WERE FALLING THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE SOUTHERN HALF OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS LATE THIS EVENING. ONLY LIGHT TO MODERATE RAINS WERE OCCURRING AT THIS TIME AND EVEN WITH RADAR UNDERESTIMATING AMOUNTS BY ABOUT ONE QUARTER TO ONE HALF INCH... MORE ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS PUT THE TOTALS AROUND ONE HALF INCH PER HOUR ON AVERAGE. THE ATMOSPHERE IS ALSO IN A STABILIZING TREND IN THE LOWER LEVELS AND RADAR INTENSITIES WERE ON THE DECLINE. THUS..AT THIS TIME...WE WILL ALLOW THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH TO EXPIRE AT 10 PM. FYI (MEDIA..TV INTERESTS)...AS OF 7 PM...THE RECORD DAILY AMOUNT (A RECORD AMOUNT FOR AUGUST 29TH) OF RAIN SO FAR TODAY AT SAN ANTONIO INTERNATIONAL HAS BEEN 3.14 INCHES AND WILL LIKELY GO UP A BIT MORE BEFORE MIDNIGHT. THE HIGH OF 78 DEGREES AT SAN ANTONIO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT THIS AFTERNOON IS THE LOWEST HIGH TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED FOR AUGUST 29TH. THIS RECORD LIKELY WILL STAND. 02/19
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 112 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:32 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2001
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: 5260982, 5260983.