4 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 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 Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 4, 2:48 AM CST, 3 hours 22 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 248 AM CST WED DEC 4 2002 SQUALL LINE/COLD FRONT MAKING FAIRLY GOOD PROGRESS ACROSS THE CWA THUS FAR THIS MORNING. CURRENT EXTRAPOLATIONS WOULD PUT THIS LINE JUST PAST IAH AOA 15Z...TO THE COAST AOA 18Z. DRY SLOTTING BEHIND THIS ENTIRE WX SYSTEM ALSO APPEARS TO BE MAKING SOME DECENT HEAD- WAY IN THIS DIRECTION. MAY HAVE TO MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS TO CLOUD COVER FOR THIS AFTN/EVENING TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS. POST EVENT PROGS STILL LOOK QUIET AS THE STRONG RIDGE BUILDING DOWN THE SRN PLAINS SETTLES OVER THE STATE. A NORTHERLY LOW-LVL FLOW SHOULD REMAIN IN PLACE OVER SE TX THROUGH AT LEAST EARLY FRI BEFORE WINDS START TO TURN IN RESPONSE TO THE NEXT UPPER TROF/SFC LOW COMBINATION WHICH IS PROGGED TO CARVE OUT A VERY SIMILAR PATH INTO THE REGION LATE SUN INTO MON. THERE IS STILL QUITE A BIT OF UNCERTAINTY WITH THE LONG-RANGE GUIDANCE WITH THE EVOLUTION OF EVENTS DURING THIS TIME FRAME SO WILL LIKELY KEEP THE WORDING CLOSE TO AS IS FOR NOW. BIG COOLDOWN STILL EXPECTED TODAY WITH TEMPS PROBABLY FALLING/HOLDING STEADY THROUGH THE AFTN HOURS. WILL DROP THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN THE NEXT PACKAGE. 41/47/45 .HGX...SCA BAYS AND 00-60NM WATERS. PRELIMS... CLL WB 050/034 050/031 053 600 IAH TB 060/037 051/033 053 800 GLS TB 067/043 051/040 053 +-0
GMZ300-330-335-350-355-370-375-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226 -227-235>238-041330- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...RETRANSMITTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 450 PM CST TUE DEC 3 2002 ...HEAVY RAINFALL AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE TONIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY... .DAY ONE... .TONIGHT...NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...POSSIBLY EVOLVING INTO A SQUALL LINE...ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS EVENING AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE INTERACTS WITH A SOUTHWARD MOVING COLD FRONT. AGAIN...HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING APPEAR TO BE THE MAIN WEATHER THREAT. HOWEVER DUE TO THE STRONG TURNING WINDS ALOFT...DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. RAINFALL AMOUNTS THROUGH TONIGHT ARE EXPECTED TO AVERAGE 1 TO 2 INCHES WITH LOCALIZED 3 TO 5 INCH AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... .WEDNESDAY...HEAVY RAIN WILL PERSIST MAINLY ALONG THE COASTAL AREAS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS WEDNESDAY MORNING. .THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM SHOULD DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN U.S. LATE IN THE WEEK AND MOVE INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS ON SUNDAY. THIS SHOULD GIVE THE REGION ANOTHER CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS.
The Houston radar (KHGX), 48 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:09 UTC.
4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flooding in extreme northeast portion of county.
Flooding in the Southwest Freeway and Hillcroft areas.
Flooding from League City to Dickinson with numerous roads underwater and impassable.
Flooding around Highway 124 near Winnie; numerous roads underwater and impassable.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, December 2002
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: 5326701, 5326703, 5326702, 5326704.