Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Texas, August 20, 2002

Name: Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Texas, August 20, 2002
Start: 2002-08-20T18:00
End: 2002-08-20T20:30
Location: Texas

August 20, 2002 · NWS MAF · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

High winds and very heavy rainfall accompanied several thunderstorms across southwest Texas on the 20th. The most significant event was a microburst which affected the city of Alpine.

Where it happened

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.

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: $35,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 MAF wrote it up.

High winds and very heavy rainfall accompanied several thunderstorms across southwest Texas on the 20th. The most significant event was a microburst which affected the city of Alpine. Winds to 70 MPH downed a 130 foot tall light standard at the football stadium. Flash flooding resulting from the downburst flooded several homes and businesses on the north side of town, including the U.S. Border Patrol office. An NWS COOP rainfall observer reported four to four and a half inches of rain with the event.

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 Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 20, 2:30 PM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 20, 2:30 PM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
330 PM CDT TUE AUG 20 2002

KMAF 88-D SHOWING THUNDERSTORMS FIRING THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS MAINLY
THE WESTERN CWA AS CONVECTIVE TEMPERATURES ARE REACHED. THE
ATMOSPHERE ACROSS THE ENTIRE CWA REMAINS VERY MOIST...KMAF 12Z 850MB
DEW POINT OF 19C ALONG WITH 19Z SURFACE DEW POINTS NEAR 60 WEST TO
NEAR 70 EAST.

18Z ETA LAGGING BEHIND WITH REGARDS TO COVERAGE OF CONVECTION...BUT
OVERALL IT DOESN/T LOOK TOO BAD. HIGHEST POPS TONIGHT IN THE
SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS...WITH A MENTION OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS GIVEN
SLOW STORM MOVEMENT AND HIGH PWATS...LOWEST POPS EAST. LATEST MODEL
GUIDANCE IS SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY/S DATA WITH THE UPPER AIR PATTERN
OVER THE SOUTHERN U.S. LITTLE CHANGE IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE WORK
WEEK. CURRENT FORECAST CALLS FOR POPS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND ADJACENT
PLAINS AND DRY WEATHER FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA. THIS LOOKS
FINE GIVEN PERSISTENT HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT...SO WE WILL LEAVE THE
BULK OF THE CURRENT FORECAST ALONE. EXTENDED MODELS STILL IN
DISARRAY WITH PAC NW LOW...BUT ARE SIMILAR WITH AN UPPER RIDGE OVER
THE CENTRAL U.S. AND A SHARP UPPER TROUGH OVER THE NORHEAST. GFS AND
THE CANADIAN MODELS STILL A LITTLE MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH A FRONTAL
BOUNDARY NOSING INTO THE AREA LATE SUNDAY/EARLY MONDAY. WE HAVE
INTRODUCED SOME SLIGHTLY COOLER (CLOSER TO CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMALS)
TEMPS AND SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR ROUGHLY THE EASTERN HALF OF THE
CWA.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...

MAF   74/ 99/ 74 / 98   2000
LSA   72/ 97/ 70 / 96   2000
6R6   76/ 97/ 75 / 96   3000
MRF   62/ 89/ 63 / 91   6333
CNM   70/ 99/ 71 /101   2-1-

.MAF...
TX...NONE.
NM...NONE.

PLATT

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 20, 1:00 PM CST, 5 hours before

NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075-
079>082-258-210456-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
200 PM CDT TUE AUG 20 2002

.SYNOPSIS...
AFTERNOON HEATING AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL CREATE AN UNSTABLE
ATMOSPHERE...FAVORABLE FOR THE FORMATION OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

.WEATHER HAZARDS...
THUNDERSTORMS...
THE POSSIBILITY FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL EXIST THROUGH THE EVENING
HOURS ACROSS MOST OF WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO. ANY
THUNDERSTORMS WHICH DO DEVELOP WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...LOCALIZED DAMAGING WINDS TO 55 MPH...AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

LINDLEY

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 225 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Brewster

When: August 20, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Brewster County, Alpine
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 30.367, -103.667

Flash Flood, Brewster

When: August 20, 6:00 PM CST to 6:45 PM CST
Where: Brewster County, Alpine
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 29.812, -103.252 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Reeves

When: August 20, 7:31 PM CST to 8:30 PM CST
Where: Reeves County, 10 mi S of Orla
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 31.323, -103.693 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trained spotter reported flash flooding. This flooding resulted in up to six inches of water covering the road near the intersection of U.S. Highway 285 and County Road 436.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, August 2002

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: 5313762, 5313763, 5313761.