On the morning of Thursday, September 19, a line of showers and thunderstorms formed along a cold front that moved southeastward across South Central Texas from the Hill Country. Rainfall from San Antonio to San Marcos to Seguin averaged from 1 to 2 inches with isolated totals to 4 inches.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 EWX wrote it up.
On the morning of Thursday, September 19, a line of showers and thunderstorms formed along a cold front that moved southeastward across South Central Texas from the Hill Country. Rainfall from San Antonio to San Marcos to Seguin averaged from 1 to 2 inches with isolated totals to 4 inches. With soils over the area still near saturation, brief flash flooding developed in the early afternoon, ending by late afternoon.
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 Sep 19, 9:35 AM CST, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 1035 AM CDT THU SEP 19 2002 NOT A LOT OF CHANGES MADE ON THE UPDATE. STILL THINK FRONT LIKELY TO PUSH INTO WESTERN AND NORTHERN PORTIONS LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING AND INTO CENTRAL AND EASTERN PORTIONS LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. GIVEN CURRENT PATTERN OF INSTABILITY...PUT SOUTH CENTRAL ZONES (SAN ANTONIO) INTO POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE FOR THIS AFTERNOON AS ONGOING CONVECTION MAY INTENSIFY WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND INCREASED WINDS ALOFT. EXPECT MAIN SEVERE THREAT TO BE THIS EVENING ON CUSP OF DRY SLOT ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN SECTIONS. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION........... MADE QUICK UPDATE TO ZONES REMOVE SVR WATCH FOR WRN COUNTIES. ALSO UPPED POPS OVER THE SOUTHEAST COUNTIES DUE MORE WIDESPREAD COVERAGE FROM S/W KICKING NEWD OUT OF NE MEXICO INTO DEEP S TX..ALONG WITH A GOOD TAP OF SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE. W TX SQUALL LINE HAS WEAKENED SOME THIS MORNING WITH STRONGEST STORMS AT THE TAIL END JUST NORTH OF VAL VERDE COUNTY. AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FM THE MCS WAS MOVG SEWD TWDS THE HILL COUNTRY AND ETA SHOWING LIFT INTO THE HILL COUNTRY/NE CWA TDA SO WILL GO WITH BEST POPS OVER THE NRN CWA...WITH CONTD MENTION OF PSBLY SVR. OVER THE SRN CWA TDA WDLY SCT FEEDER SHOWERS EXPECTED MAINLY IN THE MORNING HOURS WITH THE LLJ AND WILL CONT WITH LOW CHC POPS. ANOTHER SQUALL LINE TO FORM THIS THIS AFTN/EVENING JUST NW OF THE HILL COUNTRY AS NEXT S/W ROTATES AROUND THE UPR TROF. THE SQUALL LINE AND CDFNT WILL TRACK SLOWLY SEWD ACRS THE CWA THIS EVENING/OVERNIGHT WITH THE POSSIBILITY SVR THIS EVENING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN OVERNIGHT IN THE EASTERN COUNTIES AS CELLS TRAIN NEWD NEAR THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. THE UPR TROF AXIS MOVS EAST OF THE CWA FRI MORNING AND WILL LEAVE IN SOME LOW MORNING POPS. CLEARING/COOLER AND DRIER BY FRI AFTN AND THRU THE WEEKEND WITH A RE-ENFORCING CDFNT SAT NITE/SUN AS ISIDORE ENTERS THE SE GULF. ISIDORE LIKELY TO HELP MAINTAIN DRY SFC RDG OVR S TX EARLY NEXT WEEK. WILL CONT WITH INCREASE CLOUDS AND MENTION OF SLIGHT CHC ERN CWA BY WED DUE TO PSBL AFFECTS FROM ISIDORE. 01/18/23 UPDATED PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... AUS TB 088/064 086/060 088 5510 DRT EU 090/066 088/063 090 33-0 SAT EB 089/067 087/063 088 4510 .EWX...NONE.
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:57 UTC.
4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
General 2 inch rainfall with isolated totals to 4 inches. Around 18 roads were under water due to flooding. Two cars were stalled in high water as they attempted to cross Salado Creek. No other damage was indicated.
General 1 to 2 inch rainfall with isolated totals to 3 inches. No damage was indicated.
General 1 to 2 inch rainfall with isolated totals to 3 inches. No damage was indicated.
General 1 to 2 inch rainfall with isolated totals to 3 inches. No damage was indicated.
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, September 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: 5320860, 5320862, 5320861, 5320863.