Widespread thunderstorms developed across the Permian Basin during the afternoon and evening of the 29th as a strong cold front interacted with a modified tropical airmass. These storms resulted in very heavy rainfall and flash flooding.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 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 MAF wrote it up.
Widespread thunderstorms developed across the Permian Basin during the afternoon and evening of the 29th as a strong cold front interacted with a modified tropical airmass. These storms resulted in very heavy rainfall and flash flooding.
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 Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 29, 1:59 PM CST, 4 hours 9 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 223 PM CDT FRI AUG 29 2003 .SHORT TERM... CONDITIONS APPEAR TO BE FAVORABLE FOR A WIDESPREAD RAIN EVENT ACROSS THE REGION OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. THE LATEST ANALYSIS DEPICTS A SURFACE LOW OVER SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO...WITH A WEAK COLD FRONT EXTENDING NORTH INTO THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS. SATELLITE/RADAR TRENDS SHOW CONVECTION ON THE INCREASE AGAIN ACROSS THE UPPER TRANS PECOS/SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO PLAINS. THIS IS IN PROXIMITY TO AN APPARENT MCV WHICH IS NOTED ON CURRENT VISIBLE IMAGERY IN THE WAKE OF EARLIER ACTIVITY IN THE SAME AREA. THESE FEATURES ARE EXPECTED TO TRANSLATE SOUTH WITH TIME THIS EVENING...WITH THE SURFACE LOW LOCATED NEAR THE DAVIS MOUNTAINS LATE. AS THIS OCCURS...LOW LEVEL MASS CONVERGENCE ALONG WITH DYNAMICS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MCV AND THE LARGER SCALE WEAKNESS IN THE UPPER LEVEL HEIGHT FIELD WARRANT A BULLSEYE OF HIGH POPS OVER OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND THE TRANS PECOS REGION THROUGH MID EVENING. AROUND/SHORTLY AFTER SUNSET EXPECT A LLJ TO DEVELOP OVER THE LOWER TRANS PECOS (30 KT AT 850 MB PER MESOETA). WAA PATTERN AND CONVERGENCE ALONG THE LLJ NOSE SHOULD ENHANCE UPGLIDE/LIFT ALONG THE SOUTHWARD SAGGING FRONT ACROSS THE BASIN. CONVECTION SHOULD QUALIFY FOR THE LIKELY CATAGORY ACROSS THE BASIN...ESPECIALLY THE NORTH... OVERNIGHT. WITH FORECAST SOUNDINGS INDICATING PWS OF 1.50-1.75 INCHES... LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL MAY BE A CONCERN THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. IN ADDITION...MODERATE CAPES ON THE ORDER OF 1500 J/KG AND AN INVERTED V BOUNDARY LAYER (LCLS AROUND 700 MB) MAY BE SUFFICIENT FOR ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS FROM THE STORNGEST CELLS. && .LONG TERM... WV IMAGERY SHOWS TROUGH OVR THE PAC NW POISED TO MOVE E OVERNIGHT... ACCELERATING SFC FRONT CURRENTLY OVR KS INTO THE AREA SAT MORNING. LATEST MODEL RUNS ARE CONSISTENT IN BRINGING THIS COOLER AIR INTO THE KMAF AREA BETWEEN 15Z-18Z. LATEST PROGS SUGGEST A HIKE IN POPS IS IN ORDER...AND HAVE GONE LIKELY OVR THE NE ZONES SAT MORNING... AND SE ZONES DURING THE AFTERNOON AS FRONT MOVES FURTHER S. EXPECT FRONT TO SLOW OVR THE SERN ZONES AS THE DAY PROGRESSES...AND WILL CARRY HIGH POPS INTO THE EVENING HRS SAT NIGHT...THEN SLOWLY TAPER THIS OFF TO THE SE THRU SUNDAY AFTERNOON. RIDGING ENSUES OVR AZ/NM JUST IN TIME FOR LABOR DAY...PROVIDING FOR GOOD GRILLING WX MOST AREAS. ONLY EXCEPTIONS WILL BE SE ZONES FURTHEST FROM THE RIDGE...AS MODELS ATTEMPT TO BRING MINOR SHORTWAVES AROUND IN NE FLOW...AND A FEW OLD BOUNDARIES MAY LINGER. WILL KEEP CHANCES LOW FOR NOW. AFTER LABOR DAY...RIDGE BECOMES MORE ENTRENCHED...AND WILL KEEP THE FCST DRY. FOR TEMPS...EXPECT THE COOLEST DAY IN QUITE SOME TIME SATURDAY FOR THE NE ZONES...AND SUNDAY FOR AREAS OUT WEST AND SOUTH. TEMP PROGS AND A GLANCE AT CURRENT TEMPS UP NORTH SUGGEST GUIDANCE IS UNDERESTIMATING THE STRENGTH OF THIS COOLER AIR...AND WILL STICK TO THE LOWER SIDE. WILL ONLY SLOWLY WARM THINGS BACK UP THRU THE WEEK...AS RIDGE STRENGTHENS BUT NE SFC FLOW DOMINATES. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MAF 69 80 66 84 / 40 60 60 00 CNM 67 84 61 83 / 40 50 00 00 MRF 65 78 57 75 / 30 50 60 00 FST 69 88 59 83 / 30 60 60 10 && .MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. NM...NONE. && 10/44
NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-300930- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 230 PM CDT FRI AUG 29 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO TONIGHT. THESE STORMS WILL RESULT IN LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. A FEW OF THE STRONGER STORMS THIS EVENING MAY BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALLY DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. FLASH FLOODING OR OTHER FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS MAY ALSO BE A CONCERN THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. LINDLEY
NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-300000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 220 PM CDT FRI AUG 29 2003 ...THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT THE REGION TONIGHT... NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO GENERALLY REMAIN NON-SEVERE... LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING MAY HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES. THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING FROM THE DAVIS MOUNTAINS NORTH TO THE PLAINS OF SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO THIS AFTERNOON...WILL BEGIN TO SPREAD NORTHEAST ACROSS THE UPPER TRANS PECOS AND THE PERMIAN BASIN BY THIS EVENING. THE CHANCE OF RAIN WILL INCREASE AREAWIDE THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. THOSE PLANNING TO ATTEND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER FROM DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. USE CAUTION WHILE TRAVELING AS LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL MAY CAUSE LOW LYING AREAS TO FLOOD. LINDLEY
TXZ061-062-300030- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 628 PM CDT FRI AUG 29 2003 ...GUSTNADO OBSERVED NEAR THE MIDLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT... AT ABOUT 615 PM CDT A GUSTNADO DEVELOPED ALONG A GUST FRONT APPROACHING MIDLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. GUSTNADOES RESEMBLE DUST DEVILS AND DEVELOP ALONG THE LEADING EDGE OF COOL AIR...OR THE GUST FRONT...SPREADING AWAY FROM A THUNDERSTORM DOWNDRAFT. THESE PHENOMENA ARE NOT TORNADOES. HOWEVER...GUSTNADOES CAN PRODUCE HIGHLY LOCALIZED WINDS OVER 60 MPH AND DAMAGE TO LIGHT STRUCTURES SUCH AS CARPORTS...OR TO STRUCTURES SUSCEPTIBLE TO WIND LOADING SUCH AS FENCES. 70
The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 17 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:08 UTC.
8 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Reports of flash flooding in the city of Midland were numerous. The most significant occurances in the city included stalled cars on Big Spring Road near downtown.
Flash flooding resulted in high water flowing out of bar ditches and over Highway 84 and many city streets
Flash flooding resulted in high water flowing over Highway 385 northwest of McCamey.
Flash flooding resulted in high water over Interstate 10 east of Fort Stockton, and over Highway 67 between Interstate 10 and Girvin.
Local authorities reported extensive flooding of city streets. Numerous streets were impassable.
The public reported high water flowing over Highway 137 in extreme northern Reagan County.
High water covered the Interstate 20 access road east of Westbrook.
Flash flooding resulted in high water flowing over the intersection of Highways 158 and 137.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2003
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: 5330099, 5330100, 5330102, 5330101, 5330096, 5330098, 5330103, 5330097.