A slow moving tropical wave started to produce heavy rains over portions of west central Texas in the early morning hours of July 3rd. The first short lived round of flooding was confined to mainly the Heartland and Northwest Hill Country.
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.
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 SJT wrote it up.
A slow moving tropical wave started to produce heavy rains over portions of west central Texas in the early morning hours of July 3rd. The first short lived round of flooding was confined to mainly the Heartland and Northwest Hill Country. The damage from this first round of flooding was due to road washouts.
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 San Angelo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 2, 1:33 PM CST, 10 hours 27 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED HEADLINE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 233 PM CDT TUE JUL 2 2002 TROPICAL AIRMASS THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER SC TX THIS AFTERNOON... SLIGHTLY WEST YESTERDAY/S POSITION. SCATTERED CONVECTION HAD WORKED ITS WAY INTO THE CONCHO VALLEY THIS...BUT FOR THE MOST PART...RAIN CONTINUED TO EAST OF AN UPPER LEVEL TROF AXIS EXTENDING FROM DEL RIO TO WICHITA FALLS. GOES IR IMAGERY INDICATED WARMING CLOUD TOPS OVER SC TX IN THE PAST 2 HOURS. NCEP MODELS ARE CONSISTENT WITH EARLIER RUNS IN MOVING THE UPPER TROF SLOWLY SOUTHWEST TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...UNDER A BUILDING UPPER RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS. STILL APPEARS THAT WEDNESDAY HOLDS THE HIGHEST POTENTIAL FOR RAINFALL OVER WC TX. AS WITH PREVIOUS FORECASTS...WILL UNDERCUT MODEL POPS SLIGHTLY OVER THE BIG COUNTRY...DUE TO THE MODELS CONSISTENT WET BIAS OVER THE NORTH. FOR THE SOUTHEAST ZONES...EXPECT FLASH FLOOD THREAT TO HOLD OFF UNTIL AFTER MIDNIGHT. WILL EXTEND THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH INTO WEDNESDAY... INCLUDING SUTTON COUNTY. 12Z DRT SOUNDING SHOWS PRECIP WATER VALUE OF 1.7 INCHES...AND A NEARLY SATURATED LAYER UP THROUGH 650 MB. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINS FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY HOLIDAY...WITH SURFACE DEWPOINTS IN THE MID AND UPPER 60S. INVERTED UPPER LEVEL TROF IS PROGGED FURTHER SOUTHWEST OF THE FORECAST AREA AND SHEARED NORTHWEST THROUGH THE PERMIAN BASIN. MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES A GOOD BET FOR WC TX MOST OF THE DAY. DIFFERENTIAL SURFACE HEATING WILL LIKELY AID SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT...AS CONVECTIVE INHIBITION REMAINS WEAK. WILL MAINTAIN CHANCE/SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THE HOLIDAY. MID LEVEL TEMPS WARM FRIDAY...AS THE UPPER TROF IS SHEARED OUT UNDER A BUILDING RIDGE. WEEKEND APPEARS DRY...WITH SEASONAL TEMPS. ABI 069/084/069/089/071 3422 SJT 071/083/070/089/072 4533 JCT 071/081/070/089/072 5522 .SJT...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR MASON...MENARD... MCCULLOCH... KIMBLE...SAN SABA AND SUTTON COUNTIES. 14
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement reported significant street flooding in the San Saba area. Creeks and streams also overflowed their banks along State Highway 16 north of San Saba.
Law enforcement reported several roads covered with water, mainly in the north and west sections of the county. There were some evacuations near the community of Bangs due to rising waters along Jim Ned Creek.
Law enforcement reported several roads under water over the North and East portions of the county.
Elm Creek north of Ballinger overflowed its banks for about one hour after heavy rains fell over the central portions of Runnels County.
Law enforcement reported several roads under water over the southern portions of Callahan county.
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: 5306777, 5306778, 5306779, 5306781, 5306780.