On Friday, July 12, a large low pressure system settled over the southern Great Plains, sending a series of weather disturbances southeastward toward South Central Texas. Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed in the afternoon and continued into the evening hours from the Hill Country eastward, producing locally heavy rain and beginning to saturate the soils still moist from the…
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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.
On Friday, July 12, a large low pressure system settled over the southern Great Plains, sending a series of weather disturbances southeastward toward South Central Texas. Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed in the afternoon and continued into the evening hours from the Hill Country eastward, producing locally heavy rain and beginning to saturate the soils still moist from the devastating rains earlier in July. Another disturbance arrived on Saturday, July 13, from the northwest, and came a little further south, bringing scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms to the Texas Hill Country and adjacent parts of South Central Texas on Saturday afternoon and evening of July 13th. These storms produced widespread 1 to 2 inch rain totals, with local amounts of up to 4 inches, causing brief flooding over several counties.
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 13, 10:50 AM CST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 1150 AM CDT SAT JUL 13 2002 MID LATITUDE TROF COMING IN FROM THE NW WILL MOVE ESE ACROSS PARTS OF CNTRL AND S CNTRL TX THIS AFTERNOON. MID LAT TROF WILL INTERACT WITH REMNANTS OF TROPICAL WAVE...FROM EARLIER IN THE WEEK...NOW OVR TX BEND AREA. THIS WILL MAKE FOR MOSTLY CLOUDY AFTERNOON WITH SCATTERED PATCHES OF RAIN...SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS. TODAYS WX PATTERN WILL ALSO MAKE FOR MAX TEMPS TO BE WELL BELOW MID JULY NORMALS...WITH THE MULTI LAYERS CLOUDS AND SCT RAIN. TODAYS WX IS ALMOST LIKE AN EARLY FALL PATTERN IN A JULY SETTING...WITH MID LAT TROF INTERACTING WITH REMNANTS OF WX SYS OVR BIG BEND AREA. WILL KEEP CHC OF RAIN FOR TONIGHT THRU MONDAY...AS FORECASTS CONT TO SHOW TROF OVER THE AREA THRU MONDAY. FORECASTS CONT TO SHOW CHC OF RAIN SLOWLY FALLING BY THE MID TO LATE PART OF NEXT WEEK. PRELIMS... AUS 089/072/090/072/090 75455 DRT 092/074/094/074/093 65455 SAT 089/074/091/074/090 75455 .EWX...NONE. 08/19
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-131900- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 1100 AM CDT SAT JUL 13 2002 ...A MOSTLY CLOUDY SUMMER DAY WITH SCATTERED RAIN...SHOWERS... AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON... A WEATHER SYSTEM ALOFT OVER CENTRAL TEXAS...MOVING TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST...WILL MOVE OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON...AND INTERACT WITH ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM NEAR THE TEXAS BIG BEND AREA. THIS WEATHER PATTERN WILL FAVOR PATCHES OF RAIN...SHOWERS... AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON. SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN MAY FORM...WITH THE STRONGER SHOWEERS OR THUNDERSTORMS. AFTERNOON HIGHS WILL BE WELL BELOW MID JULY NORMALS...WITH HIGHS IN THE 80S TO LOWER 90S.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Localized rainfall of 4 inches in 2 hours, combined with the saturated soils, caused a brief resumption of flash flooding in the eastern half of Bandera County.
Between 2 and 3 inches of rain fell in 2 hours between Kerrville and Center Point. Flash flooding redeveloped over this central part of the county through the afternoon.
Luckenbach received nearly 3 inches of rain in just under 2 hours. Area streams and creeks flooded low water crossings through the late afternoon. Significant damage was reported to most of the businesses in Luckenbach. Homes also had considerable damage in them.
The northern part of Burnet County received 3 inches of rain in about 2 hours. The area experienced flash flooding though the late afternoon.
Up to 3 inches of rain in just under 2 hours fell over northwestern Williamson County. Flash flooding redeveloped quickly and continued through the late afternoon.
Nearly 3 inches of rain in under 2 hours fell over the north portion of Real County. Flash flooding developed over that half of the county and continued through the late afternoon.
Lavaca County southeast of US77 received nearly 4 inches of rain in 2 hours. Because the area soils remained very wet from rainfall during the week of July 4, flash flooding developed quickly and continued into the early evening.
Up to 4 inches of rain fell in 2 hours south of a line from Nordheim to Cuero. Since area soils were still saturated from rainfall of the previous week, flash flooding developed and continued until nearly midnight.
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: 5306845, 5306846, 5306847, 5306848, 5306849, 5306850, 5306911, 5306912.