Flash Flooding in Texas, October 22 to 23, 2002

Name: Flash Flooding in Texas, October 22 to 23, 2002
Start: 2002-10-22T21:00
End: 2002-10-23T06:30
Location: Texas

October 22 to 23, 2002 · NWS EWX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

3 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: 4
Property damage: $110,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 22, 7:30 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 22, 7:30 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
830 PM CDT TUE OCT 22 2002

TEMPS IN THE HILL COUNTRY ALL READY IN THE MID 60S.  WILL LOWER
TEMPS 1 CATEGORY MOST PLACES.  INCOMING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WILL RAIN COOL TEMPS TO NEAR 60.  UPPER DISTURBANCE IN THE JET
STREAM AND RADAR LOOP SHOWS ACTIVITY IS MOVING THROUGH AT 20 TO 25
MPH...WHICH WOULD PUT THE LEADING EDGE AROUND EAGLE PASS AND
ROCKSPRINGS BY MIDNIGHT...AND ALONG THE I-35 CORRIDOR FROM COTULLA
TO GEORGETOWN AROUND 3AM IN THE MORNING.  WILL LEAVE POPS AS IS.
WEAK SFC BOUNDARY FOUND JUST NORTH OF HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH OF US
FROM LAREDO TO CORPUS.  EAST SFC WINDS ARE FEEDING UP THE RIVER
VALLEY CAUSING THE LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME MORE
SOLID.  THIS SCENARIO WILL PLAY OUT ALONG THE EASTERN FACE OF THE
ESCARPMENT LATER TONIGHT AS THE RIVER VALLEYS BECOMING THE FOCUSED
LIFTING AREAS.   FARTHER NORTH THE NEXT COLD AIRMASS,  WITH TEMPS IN
THE 30S UNDER CLOUDY SKIES, HAS MOVED THROUGH SOUTHERN KANSAS.

06/08/PM

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...
ANALYSIS...
WESTERN 2/3RDS OF CWA SEES LARGE BREAKS IN CLOUD COVER...TEMPS ARE
WARMING QUICKLY TOWARD 80...THE OLD FRONT IS HISTORY.  THIS HEATING
WILL BRING CAPES INTO THE 2500-3000 J/KG RANGE AND STORMS TO NEAR
SEVERE LEVELS. SEVERE THREAT IS MAINLY DUE TO DOWNBURSTS...AS FREEZE
LEVELS REMAIN HIGH.  ISOLATED TORNADOES ALSO POSSIBLE DUE TO STRONG
SHEAR IN THE LOWEST 3 KM (HELICITY 120-150 M2/S2.) THE OTHER CONCERN
IS SPOTTY HEAVY RAIN OVER SOILS THAT ARE NEAR SATURATION FROM THE
RAINS OF THE PAST TWO DAYS. EXPECT WIDESPREAD TSTM EVENT TO DEVELOP
IN THE WEST TONITE AND SPREAD ACROSS THE CWA THRU THE EARLY MORNING
HOURS...MUCH AS OCCURRED LAST NITE.  RAIN AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY BE
BETWEEN .5 AND 1 INCH...BUT WITH PRECIP WATER VALUES RECOVERING WEST
TO AROUND 1.8 INCHES...ISOLATED TOTALS TO 4 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE.
THIS WOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR FLASH FLOODING. BELIEVE THE GREATEST
THREAT WOULD BE ALONG AND NORTH OF US90 AND ALONG AND EAST OF I35.
IN FACT...THIS IS JUST THE FIRST ROUND OF HEAVY RAIN AND STORMS.
ROUND TWO ARRIVES WED EVENING INTO THU MORNING...WITH A COLD FRONT
DROPPING INTO THE PICTURE THU AFTN.  THAT GIVES THE HIGHEST RAIN
CHANCES THU AFTN INTO FRI MORNING...WITH SIGNIFICANT AND EXTENSIVE
FLASH FLOODING POSSIBLE.

FCST TONITE...TSTMS FORMING IN THE WEST AND CROSSING THE CWA LATE
NITE HOURS. FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT. NOT MUCH TEMP CHANGE.

FCST WED...CLOUDY MORNING...PARTLY CLOUDY AFTN WITH STORMS FORMING
IN THE WEST AGAIN. LIKELY WILL CONTINUE FLASH FLOOD WATCH. HIGHS
NEAR 80.  LOWS NEAR 70.

FCST THU...A HIGH PROBABILITY OF TSTMS...MOST NUMEROUS THU AFTN AND
THU NITE. HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING POSSIBLE.

FCST FRI...WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS...WITH FLOODING STILL A THREAT.
BOTH HIGH TEMPS AND LOW TEMPS ARE COOLER.

FCST SAT THRU TUE...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN. HIGHS IN
THE 60S AND LOWS IN THE 50S.

09/01/PM

PRELIMS...
AUS TT 065/078 066/072 062 778+
DRT TT 066/080 067/078 063 5567
SAT TT 067/078 067/076 064 778+

.EWX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THRU TONIGHT ALONG AND EAST OF DRT TO SAT
TO PLEASANTON

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 22, 4:39 AM CST, 16 hours 21 minutes before

TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-231100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
539 AM CDT TUE OCT 22 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...
A WET WEATHER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE AS DISTURBANCES MOVING ACROSS
FROM NORTHERN MEXICO INTERACT WITH A MOIST GULF AIRMASS ACROSS
CENTRAL AND SOUTH TEXAS. SOME STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE LATER TODAY
AND TONIGHT...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED ACROSS SOUTHCENTRAL TEXAS LATER
TODAY AND TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL EXIST THROUGH THURSDAY...
AS THE WET WEATHER PATTERN HOLDS OVER THE AREA. A COLD FRONT WILL
EASE INTO SOUTHCENTRAL TEXAS LATE THURSDAY AND INTO FRIDAY. SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT. BEHIND
THE FRONT...THE THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL DIMINISH...BUT
THE THREAT OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL PERSIST.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Val Verde

When: October 22, 9:00 PM CST to 11:00 PM CST
Where: Val Verde County, South Portion
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.893, -101.152 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Very slow-moving thunderstorms dropped up to 4 inches of rain during the late evening hours in southern Val Verde County near the city of Del Rio. Up to 3 inches of rain fell over the area, causing brief flash flooding over low water crossings. No damage was indicated. No damage was indicated.

Flash Flood, Bexar

When: October 23, 2:50 AM CST to 5:30 AM CST
Where: Bexar County, South Portion
Injuries: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $80,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.449, -98.520 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A line of thunderstorms stalled just after midnight as it moved eastward across Bexar County, producing general 1 inch rainfall with isolated totals to 3 inches. The city of San Antonio reported several rescues along US90 in the downtown area. Numerous roads were closed across the city due to flash flooding through the early morning hours.

Flash Flood, Guadalupe

When: October 23, 3:30 AM CST to 6:30 AM CST
Where: Guadalupe County, West Portion
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.583, -97.949 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A line of slow-moving thunderstorms produced general 1 inch totals as it crossed Guadalupe County in the early morning hours. Isolated amounts to 4 inches were indicated in the western part of the county. FM467 and SH78 were reported closed in the western half of the county.

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

Every storm in Texas in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, October 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: 5319400, 5319401, 5319402.