Flash Flooding in Texas, September 8, 2002

Name: Flash Flooding in Texas, September 8, 2002
Start: 2002-09-08T09:15
End: 2002-09-08T12:30
Location: Texas

September 8, 2002 · NWS EWX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Where it happened

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.

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: 2
Property damage: $60,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 EWX wrote it up.

The showers that had formed over the southeast part of South Central Texas near midnight mov ed into the Austin area and northern Hill Country in the early morning. Rain amounts averaged 1 to 2 inches with isolated totals to near 5 inches. With soils already saturated from rainfall on September 7, flash flooding developed by mid morning, ending near noon.

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 Sep 8, 1:20 AM CST, 7 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 8, 1:20 AM CST, 7 hours 55 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
220 AM CDT SUN SEP 8 2002

SHORT TERM...REMAINS OF T.D. FAY HAS BEEN CREEPING WEST AT 5 MPH,
BUT APPEARS TO BE STATIONARY AGAIN.  CORE RAIN AREA HAS NOT
DEVELOPED, BUT FEEDER BANDS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP NEAR THE COASTAL
BEND AND ROTATE INTO THE HILL COUNTRY WHERE 850 CONVERGENCE LINE
RUNS EAST-WEST ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY TO THE HOUSTON AREA. MODELS
INDICATE LITTLE MOVEMENT OF REMNANTS OF FAY THROUGH MONDAY.
700MB LOW STAYS NEAR FRIO COUNTY THROUGH MONDAY.  THIS RAIN EVENT
WILL TAKE ITS TOLL FROM TRAINING ECHOES. WILL NOT CHANGE THE FLASH
FLOOD WATCH AREA AT THIS TIME.

TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...THE WEST COAST TROUGH ERODES AND THE
UPPER HIGH TAKES UP RESIDENCE OVER THE CENTRAL U.S.  THIS ALLOWS THE
LOW TO RESUME IS WESTWARD TRACK INTO MEXICO.  MILD NORTHEAST FLOW
WILL CONTINUE GRADUALLY LOWERING PRECIPITABLE WATER AND CHANCES FOR
RAIN.  ANOTHER COLD FRONT BACK DOORS INTO TEXAS THURSDAY BUT MAY NOT
MAKE IT INTO SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

EXTENDED...HIGH PRESSURE IS IN CONTROL WITH THE WESTERLIES
ENCROACHING ON NORTH TEXAS. WILL GO WITH THE ROUTINE SOUTH TEXAS
WEATHER AT THIS TIME WITH TEMPS NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL.

PRELIM NUMBERS...

PRELIMS...
AUS  85 72 85 72 87   8885
DRT  88 74 88 74 90   5555
SAT  85 72 87 72 87   8885

.EWX...FF WATCH THROUGH 6 PM TODAY ALL OF
       SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY.

06/02/DC

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Travis

When: September 8, 9:15 AM CST to 11:30 AM CST
Where: Travis County, Countywide
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 30.335, -97.782 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

General 1 to 2 inch rainfall with isolated totals to 3 inches. Flash flooding forced 3 rescues. Two in Pflugerville climbed into a tree after their car stalled in deep water. One man in Austin also climbed into a tree after his pickup stalled in deep water. No other damage was indicated.

Flash Flood, Williamson

When: September 8, 9:30 AM CST to 12:30 PM CST
Where: Williamson County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 30.648, -97.601 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

General 1 to 2 inch rainfall with isolated totals to 3 inches. No damage was indicated.

Flash Flood, Burnet

When: September 8, 10:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where: Burnet County, Countywide
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 30.788, -98.182 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

General 2 inch rainfall with isolated totals to 5 inches. Damage was reported again on Sept. 8 to area roads and bridges.

Flash Flood, Llano

When: September 8, 10:00 AM CST to 11:30 AM CST
Where: Llano County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 30.706, -98.684 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

General 1 inch rainfall with isolated totals to 3 inches. No damage was indicated.

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, September 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: 5320650, 5320651, 5320652, 5320653.