2 tornado, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 8, 2:00 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 300 PM CDT TUE OCT 8 2002 CR MOSAIC LOOP SHOWS SCATTERED CONVECTION OFER THE WESTERN GULF MOVING TOWARDS UPPER TX COASTAL ZONES. WIDELY SCATTERED CONVECTION FIRING UP SOUTHERN HALF OF CWFA...BECOMING MORE WIDESPREAD TO THE WEST. WATER VAPOR LOOP INDICATE UPPER LOW OVER SE NM/FAR SW TX REGION WITH IMPULSE MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS. ALL MODELS INDICATE PWATS INCREASING TO OVER 2 INCHES LATE WEDNESDAY AS DEVELOPING LOW LEVEL COASTAL TROUGH DEEPENS IN RESPONSE TO APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL ENERGY. LOW LEVEL JET WILL BE SOUTHERLY ACROSS REGION BY MID DAY ALONG WITH WEAK DIVERGENCE ALOFT FROM UPPER LEVEL JET. DEEP MOISTURE FEED WILL START LATE TONIGHT AND CURRENT GOES DERIVED DATA SHOWS OVER 2 INCHES PWATS OVER THE GULF STARTING TO MOVE NORTHWARD IN RESPONSE TO APPROACHING UPPER TROUGH. LOW LEVEL FOCUS WILL BE STRONG OVER THE COASTAL ZONES AS INVERTED COASTAL TROUGH DEVELOPS. WEAK CAA WILL BE APPARENT LATER WEDNESDAY NIGHT WESTERN ZONES AS LLVL TROUGHING MOVES EAST W/PWATS DROPPING TO 1.4 INCHES OVER AFOREMENTIONED AREA. FLASH FLOOD DECISION TREE WOULD SUPPORT A FLASH FLOOD WATCH OVER CWFA WEDNESDAY. AFTER CONSULTING W/HPC (SEE QPFERD/FOUS30 KWBC) WE SHALL ISSUE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF OUR CWFA WEDNESDAY. THREAT SHOULD DIMINISH WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS FOCUS SHIFTS MORE TOWARDS LOUSIANA. HOWEVER...POPS SHOULD STILL BE ON THE HIGH SIDE ESPECIALLY EASTERN ZONES. WEAK HIGH PRESSURE OVER REGION FRIDAY WILL RESULT IN ONLY SLIGHT CHANCE POPS. SURFACE HIGH BEHIND COLD FRONT LATE IN THE COMING WEEKEND WILL ORIGINATE FROM CANADA. AVN APPEARS TO BE BACKING DOWN ON SPEED OF MOVEMENT OF THIS FRONT COMPARED TO LAST NIGHTS MRF. HOWEVER...WE EXPECT FRONT TO APPROACH INLAND AREAS OF CWFA PROBABLY LATE SUNDAY. WE SHALL SEE. NO FLAGS FOR MARINE FOR NOW. HOWEVER...WE EXPECT SEAS TO INCREASE IN HEIGHT WEDNESDAY APPROACHING SCA AS SOUTHLY FETCH INCREASES. .HGX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH WEDNESDAY ALL ZONES. CLL TT 069/078 064/080 062 685 IAH TT 070/079 067/081 066 686 GLS TT 075/080 073/080 071 687
GMZ300-330-335-350-355-370-375-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226- 227-235>238-091200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1000 AM CDT TUE OCT 8 2002 ...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE NORTHERN SECTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY AND AREAWIDE LATER TONIGHT... .DAY ONE... FOR THIS AFTERNOON...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE MAINLY NORTH OF A BRENHAM...LIVINGSTON LINE. A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL SERVE AS A FOCUS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF 1/2 INCH WITH ISOLATED TOTALS TO 2 INCHES. .TONIGHT...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE. AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND A DEVELOPING SURFACE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL RESULT IN NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY LATE TONIGHT OVER MUCH OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. RAINFALL TOTALS WILL AVERAGE 1/2 INCH... WITH ISOLATED TOTALS UP TO 2 INCHES POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY MORNING THE THREAT FOR HEAVY RAINFALL WILL INCREASE AS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE AREA APPROACHES SOUTHEAST TEXAS FROM THE WEST. RAINFALL TOTALS MAY AVERAGE 1 TO 3 INCHES. FOR THE FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY PERIOD...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED.
The Houston radar (KHGX), 33 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:28 UTC.
2 tornado, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Waterspout moved onshore and did F0 damage on the east end of Galveston Island. Damage included fences down, a carport damaged, and part of an apartment brick facade down.
Tornado spotted by public in Tomball (no damage).
Roads flooded and impassable on Galveston Island (KGLS almost 3.50 inches of rain in 2 1/2 hours).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2002Warnings 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: 5319688, 5319689, 5319690.