With soils already saturated from rainfall on July 12 through 14, scattered thunderstorms re-developed near noon of July 15, in advance of a weak upper level system approaching from the southwest. Rainfall in an area from New Braunfels to Uvalde to Carrizo Springs to Cuero and back to New Braunfels was generally between 1 and 3 inches, with isolated totals of up to five inches.
Every event with a place to put it; 13 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.
With soils already saturated from rainfall on July 12 through 14, scattered thunderstorms re-developed near noon of July 15, in advance of a weak upper level system approaching from the southwest. Rainfall in an area from New Braunfels to Uvalde to Carrizo Springs to Cuero and back to New Braunfels was generally between 1 and 3 inches, with isolated totals of up to five inches. Flash flooding began in the mid afternoon and continued into the evening.
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 15, 2:40 PM CST, 20 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 340 PM CDT MON JUL 15 2002 LOW ALOFT OVER AR THIS AFTN WITH ASSOCIATED UPPER LVL TROF EXTENDING SW TO ANOTHER LOW OVR S CNTRL TX WILL CONTINUE TO DRIFT SLOWLY NORTH TONIGHT AND THEN TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST TUESDAY. THIS PATTERN WILL ALLOW UNSTABLE CONDS TO CONT OVR S CNTRL TX THRU TUESDAY. A SERIES OF EVOLVING RAIN AREAS MAY MOVE NORTHWARD OVER S CNTRL TEXAS LATER TODAY AND CONT THRU TUESDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE. AS A RESULT WILL SHOW FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE CWA THRU TUESDAY. WILL MENTION POPS WITH RAIN...SHRA AND TSRA TO INDICATE VARIABILITY IN CONVECTIVE RAIN AREAS VS. RAIN AREAS IN WAKE OF OR NEAR CONVECTIVE AREAS...AS RAIN. ON TUESDAY EVENING...LEFTOVER AREAS OF RAIN IN WAKE OF WHAT EVOLVES TUESDAY MAY LINGER OVER THE AREA IN A SCATTERED PATTERN. AS THE DAY UNFOLDS ON WEDNESDAY...ENVIRONMENTAL CONDS BEGIN TO BECOME LESS UNSETTLED OR WORK THEIR WAY TO MARGINALLY UNSTABLE CONDS. THE JULY 17TH WEDNESDAY PATTERN SUGGESTS THAT DAYTIME HEATING WILL BE THE MAIN VARIABLE TO CAUSE SCT SHRA. THIS CONCLUSION IS FORECAST FROM THE FACT THAT HI FROM EAST WILL BUILD ITS WAY WEST OVER AREA...ALBEIT IN A WEAK WAY...ON WEDNESDAY...AS LOW GETS SLOWLY PULLED NORTHEAST. ON THURSDAY FORECASTS SHOW HIGH ALOFT INCREASING OVER S CNTRL TX...AS LOW TO THE NORTHEAST OF AREA MOVES ACROSS THE MID MS VALLEY...PULLED EAST BY STRONG MID LAT TROF MOVG ACROSS GREAT LAKES AND SE CANADA. DAYTIME HEATING ON THURSDAY COULD CAUSE ISOLATED SHOWERS IN THE DAY. FOR FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...MULTI NUMERICAL MODEL SOLUTIONS IN TIME SHOW A MEDIUM RANGE FORECAST INDICATING A WEAK SUBTROP HIGH BUILDING OVER S. CNTRL TX...CAUSING MORE STABLE CONDS. THIS MID TO LATE JULY WX PATTERN...IF IT MAKES THE MARK...SHOWS THAT THE CHANCE OF RAIN WILL BE DECREASING AND BECOMING LOW. THIS TREND NOT ONLY SHOWS UP FRIDAY THE 19TH TO SUNDAY THE 21ST...IT ALSO SHOWS UP FOR NEXT WEEK JUL 22 TO 27...EVEN CONTINUING THROUGH THE LAST WEEKEND OF JULY...ON THE 27TH AND 28TH. SUBTROPICAL HIGH THAT FORMS IN LATE JULY OF 2002 WILL NOT BE QUITE AS STRONG AS ONES THAT FORMED IN JULY OF 2000 AND 2001. THE JULY 2002 WET RAIN PERIOD IS SIMILIAR TO THE PATTERN THAT OCCURRED AROUND JUL 3 TO JUL 20...1976...WHEN THE AREA WAS ALSO AFFECTED BY A RAIN EVENT. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS AUS 71/86/72/92/73 79431 DRT 72/91/74/93/75 56332 SAT 72/88/74/92/75 78431 .EWX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND HILL COUNTRY THRU TUESDAY. 08/19/23
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
13 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
General rainfall of 2 to 3 inches fell in around 2 hours west of New Braunfels in the early afternoon. Brief flash flooding developed that ended in the late afternoon. There was no significant damage.
General 1 to2 inch rains fell in the Big Wells area. Isolated totals in that area reached near 4 inches. Brief flash flooding developed west to near Brundage and south to Valley Wells. No damage was reported.
Most sections of eastern Bexar County received 1 inch of rain in the mid afternoon. Rainfall was heaviest in the Elmendorf area where a general 2 inch rain occurred, along with isolated totals to near 4 inches. Brief flash flooding redeveloped in southeast Bexar County. No damage was indicated.
The south part of Guadalupe County received from 2 to 4 inches of rainfall during the mid afternoon. Brief flash flooding was indicated from Seguin southward, with no damage noted.
Rainfall over Medina County was generally an inch or less in the mid afternoon. The south part of the county received general 2 inch rainfall with isolated amounts reported to near 4 inches. Brief flash flooding developed between Yancey and Natalia, ending in the early evening.
Southern Uvalde County received a general 1 to 2 inch rain. Areas southeast of Uvalde reported up to 4 inch totals. Brief flash flooding was indicated from the late afternoon into the early evening. No damage was reported.
Rainfall over Zavala County was general, with most locations receiving 1 to 2 inches. Isolated totals to near 3 inches were reported, along with brief flash flooding and no damage.
Widespread 2 to 3 inch rainfall fell on Frio County through the early and mid afternoon. Isolated areas received up to 5 inches of rain. Flash flooding was reported during the early evening, then dissipated without significant damage.
DeWitt County received a general 2 to 3 inch rain, with up to 5 inches near Nordheim. Brief flash flooding was reported from late afternoon to early evening. No damage was indicated.
A general 1to 2 inch rainfall was indicated over southern Atascosa County, with totals of up to 6 inches between Charlotte and Hindes. Brief flash flooding was indicated with the heavier amounts through the early evening. Minor damage was reported to county rural roads.
During the late afternoon, the southeast section of Karnes County from Helena to Runge to Kenedy received between 3 and 4 inches of rainfall with some reports of up to 9 inches. Flash flooding developed very quickly and continued until almost midnight. Damage was generally confined to rural roads and a few low water crossings.
Northern Wilson County received a general 1 inch rain, with areas between LaVernia and Sutherland Springs reporting nearly 4 inches. Brief flash flooding developed in the early evening, but ended without significant damage.
Gonzales County south and east of the city of Gonzales received a widespread rainfall of 1 to 2 inches, with isolated amounts of up to 5 inches. Brief flash flooding developed, but ended in the mid evening period. No significant damage was reported.
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: 5312264, 5312265, 5311020, 5311021, 5311022, 5311023, 5311024, 5311028, 5311025, 5311026, 5311029, 5311027, 5311089.