Texas, 2001

Flash Flood in Texas, November 15, 2001

November 15, 2001 · NWS EWX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Rainfall over Comal County had developed near sunrise on the morning of the 15th, with accumulations approaching 3 inches by 1000 CST. Heavy rainfall continued, off and on, through the remainder of the morning and most of the afternoon.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
10
Property damage
$80,000
Crop damage
None recorded
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.

Rainfall over Comal County had developed near sunrise on the morning of the 15th, with accumulations approaching 3 inches by 1000 CST. Heavy rainfall continued, off and on, through the remainder of the morning and most of the afternoon. Flash flooding began around 0930 CST and continued until almost midnight. Low water crossings were flooded across most of the county, and schools had trouble releasing students in the afternoon since many of the county roads were blocked and impassible. Widespread damage was reported to county roads.

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 Nov 15, 3:05 AM CST, 6 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 15, 3:05 AM CST, 6 hours 25 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
305 AM CST THU NOV 15 2001

FRIGID UPPER LOW CURRENTLY NEAR EL PASO IS STILL DRIFTING SLOWLY
SEWD...DRIVING A SERIES OF SHORT WAVES IN ADVANCE THRU SC TX.
MODELS DIFFER A BIT ON STRENGTH AND LOCATION BUT AGREE THIS LOW WILL
CONTINUE TO WOBBLE AROUND IN THE ELP AREA THRU SAT...POSSIBLY
BEGINNING TO OPEN AND LIFT OUT ON SUN.  WITH LOW LEVEL ELY FLOW
SUSTAINING MOISTURE...LITTLE WILL CHANGE THRU NEXT 48 HOURS.

FIRST TWO SHORT WAVES HAVE ALREADY CROSSED WARNING AREA. SPOTTY SVR
WX IN FORM OF HAIL AND HEAVY RAINFALL DEVELOPED UNDER STEEP LAPSE
RATES AND PRECIP WATER VALUES NEAR 1.5 INCHES IN STORMS MOVING 10-15
KTS.  RAIN TOTALS RANGED FROM 2 TO 4 INCHES OVER THE WESTERN PART OF
THE AREA WITH MAX TOTALS OF NEARLY 8 INCHES IN EXTREME SOUTH PART.
SOILS ARE SATURATED AND SOME OF THE MORE QUICKLY RESPONDING STREAMS
ARE ON THE RISE...SO FLASH FLOOD WATCH WILL CONTINUE THRU THE AFTN.
GOOD CHANCE THE WATCH WILL NEED TO BE EXTENDED IN TIME.

LOWERED POPS ON MON AND TUE AS NEXT COLD FRONT MOVES INTO AREA AND
REMOVED THE POPS FROM THE WED FORECAST.  EXPECT SOME COOLING WITH
THIS NEXT FRONT AS MINIMUM TEMPS WILL FALL INTO THE LOW 40S BY WED
MORNING OVER THE HILL COUNTRY.

MIGHT BE WORTH MENTIONING THIS IS WINTER WEATHER AWARENESS DAY IN
TEXAS...EVEN THOUGH WE MAY BE CONCENTRATING ON SOME NON-WINTER
TYPES OF WEATHER.

.PRELIM NUMBERS
AUS 72/60/70/60 9987
DRT 70/60/68/60 9987
SAT 72/62/72/62 9987

.EWX...FF WATCH ALL SECTIONS THRU 16/00Z.

09/19/23

In the hours before

Local storm report, Nov 15, 6:33 AM CST, 2 hours 57 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO, TX
633 AM CST THU NOV 15 2001

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0511 AM    BOERNE                    TX   TORNADO
11/15/01   KENDALL                        ROOF TORN OFF HOUSE
                                          REPORTED BY PUBLIC

0519 AM    BOERNE                    TX   TORNADO
11/15/01   KENDALL                        SIGHTED AT FM 300 AND
                                          STATE HWY 46 WEST REPORTED
                                          BY RANCHER

AS

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 27 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Comal

When
November 15, 9:30 AM CST to 11:00 PM CST
Where
Comal County, Countywide
Injuries
10 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$80,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
29.808, -98.278 (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

More

Every storm in Texas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, November 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: 5271169.