Flash Flood in Texas, August 30, 2001

Name: Flash Flood in Texas, August 30, 2001
Start: 2001-08-30T07:30
End: 2001-08-30T21:00
Location: Texas

August 30, 2001 · NWS EWX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Showers and thunderstorms continued through the early morning over Karnes County. By mid-morning, rainfall across the county averaged 2 to 4 inches with isolated totals near 8 inches.

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: $100,000
Crop damage: $100,000
Events: 1

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 EWX wrote it up.

Showers and thunderstorms continued through the early morning over Karnes County. By mid-morning, rainfall across the county averaged 2 to 4 inches with isolated totals near 8 inches. By early afternoon the rain began to subside, but only after a general 3 to 5 inch soaking countywide, with up to 15 inches reported in the southeast part of the county. Road closures were widespread across the county with considerable damage to county bridges, roads and highways.

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 Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 30, 6:00 AM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 30, 6:00 AM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
700 AM CDT WED AUG 29 2001

UPDATE...BOOSTING POPS TODAY MOST GROUPS BASED ON CURRENT TRENDS.

TEMPS YESTERDAY MORE LIKE NOVEMBER THAN AUGUST  SHOULD BE MORE
MODERATE TODAY...WARMING SLOWLY NEXT FEW DAYS.  WILL REISSUE FLASH
FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THIS EVENING ALONG AND EAST OF I35...ALTHOUGH
MAIN POTENTIAL SHOULD BE EASTERN PORTIONS OF WATCH AREA.  ANOTHER
VORT MAX WILL BRING INCREASED ACTIVITY WEST TONIGHT.  GRADUAL
DECREASE FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT THEN CHANCE POPS AREA-WIDE SATURDAY
AS WEAK FRONT EDGES INTO REGION...CONTINUING THROUGH LABOR DAY.
WARMER AND DRY TOWARD MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
AUS 86/72/89/73 6332
DRT 91/73/94/75 2430
SAT 88/73/90/73 6332

.EWX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THIS EVENING ALONG AND EAST OF
       INTERSTATE 35.

3/4/WR

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Karnes

When: August 30, 7:30 AM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Karnes County, Countywide
Property damage: $100,000
Crop damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 28.906, -97.859 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

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, August 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: 5260984.