Between 6 and 8 inches of rain fell in less than 6 hours. Water filled up in underpasses up to 8 feet deep.
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.
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 LCH wrote it up.
Between 6 and 8 inches of rain fell in less than 6 hours. Water filled up in underpasses up to 8 feet deep. A woman drove her car into the deep water, and drowned. A hospital had the emergency room floor flooded. Over 500 homes in Beaumont had water enter them.
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 Oct 28, 8:40 PM CST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
840 PM CST MON OCT 28 2002
...HEAVY RAIN AND SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL...
STRONG SUPPORT FOR TSTMS TONIGHT AS INDC IN WATER VAPOR AND IR SAT.
BEST SUPPORT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE AREA OVR THE NEXT SVRL
HOURS. CAPES AREA LOOKING A BIT BETTER AND HELICITY IS RUNNING ABOUT
82 (M/S)2... BUT THIS IS EXPECTED TO INCR. SHV SOUNDING HAD HEL ABT
183 (M/S)2. TOR WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF SE TX AND PORTIONS
OF SW AND CNTRL LA THIS EVE.
HAVE UPDATED ZONES.
.LCH...
TORNADO WATCH TIL 2 AM...LAZ027>033-041>043-051-052-
TXZ180>182-201-215-216-
FLOOD WATCH...LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-
TXZ180>182-201-215-216.
.PRELIM NUMBERS...
TN TUE WED THU TN TU WE TH
AEX 65 77/60 76/55 70/49 8 52 11 00
BPT 70 79/66 80/60 73/52 + 62 11 00
LCH 70 79/65 80/60 73/52 + 62 11 00
LFT 71 78/66 79/62 73/52 8 63 11 00
K. KUYPERLAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-291200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 517 AM CST MON OCT 28 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS...CENTRAL... SOUTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. ...FLOOD WATCH THIS AFTERNOON FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND FOR SOUTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL LOUISIANA... .TODAY AND TONIGHT... SYNOPSIS... FOR TODAY...A WARM FRONT WILL EXTEND SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST ACROSS THE LAKES REGION OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND THROUGH CENTRAL LOUISIANA. FRESHENING GULF BREEZES WILL UPGLIDE OVER THIS FRONTAL SURFACE. BY THE AFTERNOON...DISTURBANCES ALOFT WILL PASS OVER THE UPGLIDING GULF AIR. FURTHER LIFTING OF THIS GULF AIR WILL CAUSE OVERRUNNING RAINS. ANY RAIN WILL QUICKLY RUN OFF IN THE ALREADY SATURATED SOILS. FOR TONIGHT...THE WARM FRONT WILL EXIT TO THE NORTH. AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WILL SET UP A WARM SECTOR WEDGE ACROSS THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA. FAVORABLE UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS WILL BE IN PLACE OVER THIS WARM SECTOR WEDGE. THUNDERSTORMS ORGANIZING IN LINES ARE POSSIBLE. FLOODING... BASIN AVERAGED RAIN WATER AMOUNTS BETWEEN 1 AND 2 INCHES...WITH LOCAL AMOUNTS BETWEEN 2 AND 4 INCHES...ARE POSSIBLE. SEE FLASH FLOOD WATCH ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE. RIVER FLOODING... MODERATE FLOODING WILL PERSIST OVER THE RIVER BASINS OF THE LOWER NECHES AND LOWER SABINE...AND OVER THE RIVER BASINS OF THE CALCASIEU AND MERMENTAU. SEE RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE. SPECIAL ATTENTION WILL BE NEEDED FOR FLASHY RIVERS SUCH AS BAYOU ANACOCO AND THE VERMILION RIVER IN LAFAYETTE. CONVECTIVE WEATHER... THUNDERSTORMS ORGANIZING IN LINES ARE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS EVENING. ................................................................ .TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... POST FRONTAL SHOWERS WILL BE ENDING TUESDAY MORNING. A CANADIAN HIGH WILL BUILD IN BEHIND THE EXITING FRONT. A MORE SEASONABLE AIR MASS WILL PREVAIL. ON SUNDAY...A MUCH STRONGER COLD FRONT WILL ADVANCE ACROSS THE AREA...USHERING IN AN UNSEASONABLY COOL AIR MASS. OVERNIGHT MINIMUMS IN THE MID 30S WILL BE FELT ACROSS THE LAKES REGION OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND ACROSS CENTRAL LOUISIANA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. Trares
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
1104 PM CST MON OCT 28 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1030 PM BATSON TX 60 MPH TSTM WIND GUST
10/28/02 HARDIN TREES REPORTED DOWN
KGKPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
1203 AM CST TUE OCT 29 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1155 PM VIDOR TX FLOOD
10/29/02 ORANGE MAJOR FLOODING OF STREETS
IN VIDOR. WATER COMING INTO
HOMES ON ST. CHARLES ST. IN
VIDORPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
1216 AM CST TUE OCT 29 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1130 PM LUMBERTON TX TORNADO
10/28/02 HARDIN *** SEVERAL INJ ***
LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED -
TX DPS. BLDG DAMAGED, GAS
LEAKThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood, Jefferson | 2002-10-29 | 43 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
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, October 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: 5319534.