During the late night hours of July 1, showers and thunderstorms formed between San Marcos and Austin, as well as between Uvalde, Kerrville and Blanco. Moving slowly northward, they produced heavy rainfall and flash flooding across the Hill Country and the Austin area.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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.
During the late night hours of July 1, showers and thunderstorms formed between San Marcos and Austin, as well as between Uvalde, Kerrville and Blanco. Moving slowly northward, they produced heavy rainfall and flash flooding across the Hill Country and the Austin area. No additional deaths resulted from this flooding, but damages were widespread to roads and bridges.
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 Jul 1, 8:00 PM CST, 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 900 PM CDT MON JUL 1 2002 CURRENT WEATHER ANALYSIS... A SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE EXISTS OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL GULF. AN UPPER LEVEL LOW IS OVER SOUTHERN TEXAS. SOUTHEAST SURFACE WINDS CONTINUE TO BRING MOISTURE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FROM THE GULF. MODEL GUIDANCE ANALYSIS... MODEL GUIDANCE IS IN AGREEMENT THAT THE UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL SLOWLY DRIFT WEST AND BE OVER THE RIO GRANDE PLAINS REGION TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. OUTLOOK... LOOK FOR RAIN ACTIVITY OVER THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TO CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY AND THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY FORECAST WARNING AREA WILL ALSO CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY. WITH UPPER LEVEL LOW DRIFTING WEST...RAIN ACTIVITY WILL INCREASE OVER THE RIO GRANDE PLAINS REGION AND DECREASE SLIGHTLY OVER THE EASTERN COUNTIES. HOWEVER...SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS ARE NOT EXPECTED UNTIL LATE THIS WEEK. WILL UPDATE THE 4PM ZONE FORECAST...ADJUSTING MORNING LOW TEMPERATURES. WILL RE-ISSUE SHORTLY. TO THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DROUGHT...IS IT OVER ? NO. IT IS ONLY MOMENTARILY SUSPENDED UNTIL IT STOPS RAINING AND THEN THE DROUGHT WILL RETURN. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... ETA AND AVN IN GENERAL AGREEMENT IN SLOWLY SHIFTING THE UPR LOW AND HEAVIEST RAIN FURTHER WEST OVER THE RIO GRANDE PLAINS BY TUE NIGHT/WED. HOWEVER...IN THE SHORT TERM IT APPEARS CENTRAL AND ERN CWA WILL BE FOCUS FOR HVY RAIN WITH DIFFLUENCE ALOFT WITH SCT SHRA/TSRA FEEDING INTO S CNTRL TX WHERE A SHALLOW COOL SFC RDG/BOUNDARY HAS DEVELOPED FM THE MCS. ETA PRODUCING SIGNIFICANT QPF AMOUNTS OVER THE CENTRAL/ERN CWA THIS EVENING/OVERNIGHT WHILE AVN SHOWING A SIMILAR QPF AREA BUT LIGHTER AMOUNTS...EVEN THOUGH AVN BETTER INITIALIZED WITH PWS. FFA WILL BE EXTENDED THRU TUE ON THE AFTN PACKAGE WITH A SLOW SHIFT OF HEAVY RAIN TOWARDS THE DRIER WESTERN COUNTIES BY WED/THU. UPR RDG TO BUILD INTO THE AREA IN THE LATE WEEK AND WEEKEND WITH RAIN CHCS DROPPING TO SLIGHT CHC BY SAT/SUN...INCREASING TO CHC ON MONDAY AS AN EASTERLY WAVE ARRIVES. PRELIMS... AUS TE 072/085 072/088 073 8643 DRT ET 073/085 072/085 074 3454 SAT TE 072/084 073/087 074 8643 .EWX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH ENTIRE CWA THRU TUE.
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 39 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:31 UTC.
9 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
General 2 inch totals across the county with isolated amounts of up to 5 inches fell in the south part of the county. Flash flooding developed slowly due to less saturated soils than the counties to the south. No significant damage was reported at this time.
General 1 to 2 inch totals fell in Travis County with isolated amounts of up to 4 inches from Camp Mabry through the western part of the county. Flash flooding developed slowly in the more flood-prone western part of the county and continued just past midnight. No significant damage was reported in this part of the flooding
An additional 3 to 4 inches of rain fell during the late night hours over Kendall County, with isolated totals of up to 7 inches in the extreme southwest. By now, flash flooding was taking place countywide, with severe flooding over the south and west portions. Damage to roads and bridges continued.
General 4 to 6 inch totals fell across the county, with isolated amounts of up to 12 inches in the eastern half. The Medina River, already in flood since noon on the previous day, continue to build, and flash flooding was reported across all of the county. Damages to roads and bridges continued to be reported. All low water crossings were closed and travel was very hazardous.
General 3 to 4 inch totals began falling just before midnight over the northern part of Uvalde County, with isolated totals of up to 6 inches. Flash flooding was reported between Concan and Utopia as well as in the Garner Park area. Campers in Concan were stranded and unable to leave the area. Portions of Utopia were evacuated.
General 3 to 4 inch totals were reported in the northern part of the county, with isolated totals of up to 5 inches. Flash flooding began shortly after midnight and continued through most of the day. By mid-afternoon, low water crossings in the county were flooded and road closures were widespread. Water was reported going over the spillway at Medina Dam by the afternoon of July 2.
General 2 to 3 inch totals were indicated over Kerr County with isolated totals of up to 7 inches in the eastern half of the county. Flash flooding developed in the early morning hours and continued into the afternoon. Stranded Kerrville residents had to be rescued from their roof tops by boat. All low water crossings were flooding over eastern Kerr County. Numerous roads were closed with widespread damage reported.
General 2 inch rains fell over Blanco County. Heavier totals to 4 inches in the south part of the county produced flash flooding from just before sunrise to the mid-morning period. By this time, more than 15 inches of rain has fallen over many parts of Blanco County. Flash flooding is widespread and damage has been indicated to numerous roads and bridges across the county.
General 2 inch rainfall was reported over the county, with isolated totals to 4 inches in the south part of the county. Flash flooding developed in the south part of the county before sunrise and continued until noon. Damage to roads was reported to be minimal at this time.
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, July 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: 5311546, 5311547, 5311548, 5311618, 5311619, 5311620, 5311621, 5311622, 5311623.