Flash Flood, Orange
- When
- November 3, 12:00 PM CST to 1:00 PM CST
- Where
- Orange County, Vidor
- Property damage
- $500,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 30.121, -93.894 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Texas, November 3, 2002
Nearly 200 homes in Vidor and Orange had flood waters enter them. Saturated grounds and five inches of rain in less than five hours resulted in widespread flooding.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $500,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 happened
The episode as NWS LCH wrote it up.
Nearly 200 homes in Vidor and Orange had flood waters enter them. Saturated grounds and five inches of rain in less than five hours resulted in widespread flooding.
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 Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 3, 9:49 AM CST, 2 hours 11 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Nov 3, 9:49 AM CST, 2 hours 11 minutes before
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
949 AM CST SUN NOV 3 2002
LOW PRESSURE CENTER IN COASTAL WATERS SOUTHEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI AT
9 AM HAS WARM FRONT EXTENDING JUST INLAND ALONG UPPER TEXAS
SOUTHWEST/SOUTH-CENTRAL LOUISIANA COAST. SURFACE LOW SHOULD TRACK
EAST-NORTHEAST ACROSS INTO SOUTH-CENTRAL LOUISIANA THIS EVENING TO
SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI OR SOUTHERN ALABAMA LATE TONIGHT. THERE IS
LOTS OF MOISTURE OVER THE FORECAST AREA NEAR THE TRACK OF THE LOW.
THERE WAS ALMOST 2 INCHES /1.94/ OF PRECIPITABLE WATER ON THIS
MORNING LAKE CHARLES UPPER AIR SOUNDING. ALSO STRONG WIND SHEAR
SHOWED UP IN THE LOW LEVELS OF SOUNDING THOUGH 0 TO 6 KM SHEAR WAS ON
THE WEAK SIDE..ONLY ABOUT 30 KNOTS OF WIND EXPECTED TODAY AT 6 KM.
STRONG LOW LEVEL SHEAR INDICATES POTENTIAL FOR TORNADOES OR HIGH
WINDS NEAR AND SOUTH OF FRONT SO WILL MENTION POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE
WEATHER IN FORECASTS.
TEMPERATURES HAVE ALREADY RISEN TO 67 AT BEAUMONT SO WILL RAISE HIGH
TEMPERATURES FORECASTS FOR TODAY SOUTHERN PART OF THE AREA.
POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY AND FLOOD PRODUCING RAINS CONTINUES NORTHEAST
AND EAST OF SURFACE LOW AND NEAR FRONT SO WILL CONTINUE FLOOD WATCH
FOR THE ENTIRE AREA FOR TODAY.
.PRELIM NUMBERS...
SU MO TU S M T
AEX 59 55/61 52/60 50 +73588
BPT 70 60/65 57/64 54 +53696
LCH 70 61/66 57/68 56 +63597
LFT 70 61/66 57/67 56 +83489
.LCH...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY ALL WATERS...GMZ455-450-470-475
...FLOOD WATCH ALL ZONES...LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-
TXZ180>182-201-215-216
20Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 3, 6:00 AM CST, 6 hours before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-041200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 600 AM CST SUN NOV 3 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS...CENTRAL... SOUTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. .TODAY AND TONIGHT... A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED WARM AND COLD FRONTS WILL SCOOT NORTHEAST ALONG THE TEXAS COASTLINE AND THEN EASTWARD ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA COASTLINE. HEAVY RAINS AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND EVENING BEFORE TAPERING OFF OVERNIGHT. RAINFALL TOTALS FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES WITH ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS WILL BE POSSIBLE...GENERALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE I-10 CORRIDOR. LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY. SEVERE WEATHER...MAINLY IN THE FORM OF ISOLATED TORNADOES...WILL BE A POSSIBILITY TODAY ACROSS THE COASTAL SECTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. IF THE LOW TRACKS FURTHER INLAND...THE SEVERE WEATHER RISK WILL ALSO MOVE FURTHER INLAND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION... THE ACIVIATION OF SPOTTERS MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON. .MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... A BRIEF RESPITE FROM SUNDAYS WEATHER WILL OCCUR MONDAY WITH ONLY SCATTERED SHOWERS EXPECTED. THE NEXT SURGE OF MOISTURE WILL MOVE NORTHEAST OUT OF EASTERN PACIFIC AND SURGE INTO THE AREA...BRINGING THE THREAT OF HEAVY RAINS TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT BEFORE TAPERING OFF EARLY WEDNESDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN MOVE INTO THE AREA WEDNESDAY BRINGING PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. MOGGED
In the hours before
Local storm report, Nov 3, 11:25 AM CST, 35 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
1125 AM CST SUN NOV 3 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1110 AM BEAUMONT TX FLASH FLOOD
11/03/02 JEFFERSON TENANT REPORTS SEVERAL
CARS FLOODED IN TWO FEET OF
WATER AT APARTMENT COMPLEX
NEAR PARKDALE MALL ON
DOWLEN RD.
THMThe radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Texas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, November 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: 5323149.