Flash Flooding and Lightning Strike in Texas, July 16 to 17, 2002

Name: Flash Flooding and Lightning Strike in Texas, July 16 to 17, 2002
Start: 2002-07-16T09:50
End: 2002-07-17T16:45
Location: Texas

July 16 to 17, 2002 · NWS FWD · 5 events in 4 counties and zones

4 flash flood, 1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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: $53,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 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 Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 16, 5:30 AM CST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 5:30 AM CST, 4 hours 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED TO ADD AVIATION DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
630 AM CDT TUE JUL 16 2002

...AVIATION DISCUSSION...
LATEST REFLECTIVITY DATA FROM KFWS AND KGRK INDICATE ISOLATED
SHOWERS DEVELOPING AND MOVING NORTHEASTWARD ALONG AN AXIS FROM
AUSTIN...TO CORSICANA...AND CANTON. LOW-LEVEL JET HAS STRENGTHENED
OVERNIGHT...AS PER DATA FROM PALESTINE PROFILER...AND THIS IS LIKELY
ONE FACTOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE INCREASE IN COVERAGE OF PRECIP. SHORT
TERM MODEL GUIDANCE FROM THE MESOETA AND RUC40 IS IN AGREEMENT IN
TAKING THE AXIS OF HEAVIEST PRECIP SLIGHTLY TO THE EAST OF DFW AND
WACO. WILL NOT TRY TO PINPOINT EXACT TIMES OF PRECIP IN THE
TAFS...AS SHOWERS WILL BE DEVELOPING CONTINUOUSLY. INSTEAD...WILL
COVER WITH VCSH THIS MORNING...VCTS THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING...AND
VCSH AGAIN TONIGHT...AS PRECIP WILL LAST INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING.
BRIEF AND LOCALIZED AREAS OF SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER CEILINGS AND
REDUCED VISIBILITY CAN BE EXPECTED WITH ANY OF THE SHOWERS.

65/DD

...PREVIOUS PUBLIC DISCUSSION...
COPIOUS MOISTURE STREAMING NORTH INTO THE REGION...AND THE UPPER
LEVEL LOW...WILL KEEP SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST
THROUGH WEDNESDAY. PWS OVER NORTH TEXAS ARE HIGHER THAN FORECAST
YESTERDAY...RUNNING ABOVE TWO INCHES OVER THE EASTERN TWO THIRDS OF
THE REGION...WHERE THEY WILL STAY THROUGH TONIGHT.

MODEL QPF SOLUTIONS ARE SIMILAR AND BEST DESCRIBED BY NCEP. MAXIMUM
RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY RUN IN THE ONE TO THREE INCH RANGE...
WITH ISOLATED FIVE INCH AMOUNTS...MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF I-35. WILL
KEEP THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT TODAY...BUT HEAVY RAINS
ARE A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY AGAIN TONIGHT.  HOWEVER...FEEL THE
AREA MAY BE SMALLER AND FURTHER EAST THAN IS CURRENTLY UNDER A
WATCH...BUT THIS MORNINGS DATA RUN SHOULD BE MORE DEFINITIVE. HENCE
WILL LET THE DAY CREW DECIDE WHETHER TO REISSUE...AND REDEFINE THE
AREA...FOR TONIGHT.

POPS END WEDNESDAY AND WE START TO DRY OUT AS THE RIDGE BUILDS IN
FROM THE EAST. MRF IS QUICK TO RETURN TO CLIMO TEMPS OR ABOVE...BUT
WE HAVE HELD BACK DUE TO WET GROUND AND HIGHER RHS THAT WILL TEND TO
KEEP MAX TEMPS DOWN. OVERALL...FORECAST TENDS TO GO JUST BELOW MOS
TEMPS THROUGH FORECAST...AND ABOVE POPS THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

DFW   84  71  88  72 /  80  70  40  20
ACT   83  72  89  73 / 100  70  30  20
PRX   84  71  87  72 /  80  70  50  20
DTO   84  71  87  72 /  80  70  50  20
TKI   84  71  87  72 /  80  70  50  20
DAL   85  73  88  73 /  80  70  40  20
TRL   83  71  88  73 /  80  70  50  20
CRS   83  72  89  73 / 100  70  30  20
TPL   83  72  89  73 / 100  70  30  20

.FWD...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY FOR ALL BUT THE WESTERN PART OF
NORTH TEXAS...GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST OF A GOLDTHWAITE...GLEN
ROSE...DECATUR...GAINESVILLE LINE

42

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 16, 4:10 AM CST, 5 hours 40 minutes before

TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-162200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
510 AM CDT TUE JUL 16 2002

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY
ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH TEXAS TODAY. ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE STORMS WILL
BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH...THE MAIN WEATHER
THREAT TODAY IS EXPECTED TO COME FROM FLASH FLOODING. ABUNDANT
TROPICAL MOISTURE WILL COMBINE WITH A CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO RESULT IN A HEAVY RAINFALL THREAT...
MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM GOLDTHWAITE...TO GLEN ROSE...
DECATUR...AND GAINESVILLE. PLEASE REFER TO THE FLASH FLOOD
WATCH...WMO HEADER WGUS64...FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

&&

65/DD

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 142 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 flash flood, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Henderson

When: July 16, 9:50 AM CST to 11:50 AM CST
Where: Henderson County, Northwest Portion
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.212, -95.854 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Several roads were under water.

Flash Flood, Henderson

When: July 16, 10:10 AM CST to 11:10 AM CST
Where: Henderson County, West Central Portion
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.212, -95.854 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Two cars were swept off roads in the western part of the county.

Flash Flood, Limestone

When: July 16, 10:25 AM CST to 12:05 PM CST
Where: Limestone County, Kosse
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.546, -96.580 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Water over Highway 14 north of Kosse, and Highway 1246 west of Thornton flooded.

Flash Flood, Kaufman

When: July 16, 11:10 AM CST to 4:35 PM CST
Where: Kaufman County, South Central Portion
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.599, -96.288 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

County Road 3396 flooded at a creek crossing, County Road 274 flooded between Highway 148 and the county line. County Road 4043 was also flooded, and some homes were flooded.

Lightning, Ellis

When: July 17, 4:45 PM CST
Where: Ellis County, Ovilla
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 32.348, -96.794 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck two houses, starting fires in both homes.

What these are

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.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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, July 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: 5304497, 5304499, 5304498, 5304500, 5304496.