Texas, 2003Tropical Storm in Texas, August 30 to 31, 2003
August 30 to 31, 2003 · NWS HGX · 5 events in 5 counties and zones
The broad circulation of poorly organized Tropical Storm Grace made landfall between Port O'Connor and Freeport on August 31st. Grace was the second tropical cyclone to affect this portion of the Texas coast in less than two months (Hurricane Claudette moved through the Port O'Connor area on July 15th).
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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- Heat and drought
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- Other
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- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 5
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 broad circulation of poorly organized Tropical Storm Grace made landfall between Port O'Connor and Freeport on August 31st. Grace was the second tropical cyclone to affect this portion of the Texas coast in less than two months (Hurricane Claudette moved through the Port O'Connor area on July 15th). Grace ended up being a heavy rain producer for portions of the Upper Texas Coast where some flooding was observed. There was no damage due to Grace's winds.Grace developed from a tropical wave that moved across the Yucatan Peninsula and into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico late on August 29th. Development was inhibited by strong vertical wind shear. On August 30th, the shear lessened and a tropical depression formed about 335 miles east southeast of Corpus Christi. Reports from a ship and a reconnaissance aircraft indicated that the cyclone had strengthened into Tropical Storm Grace later that day. Grace moved in a general northwestward direction and remained poorly organized until it made landfall along the Texas coast between Port O'Connor and Freeport on August 31st. The system continued to move inland and quickly weakened to a depression. Outer rain bands containing heavy rainfall continued to develop near the coast well after Grace had weakened and produced additional heavy rainfall that lead to some flooding. Heavy rainfall between 6 and 12 inches was observed from extreme eastern Galveston County to across the Bolivar Peninsula and northward into Chambers and portions of Liberty Counties. Some roads were flooded in these areas. Beach erosion was minor. Water did get up to the dunes but little additional damage was done to the beaches beyond what Hurricane Claudette had already done in July.There was one waterspout observed in association with Grace just off of Pirates Beach on the west end of Galveston Island. The waterspout dissipated before moving inland.Some of the higher rainfall amounts (August 30th to August 31st) included 6.89 inches in Seabrook, 6.19 inches in League City, 5.90 inches in Nassau Bay, 4.40 inches in Baytown, 4.21 inches in Pearland, 3.20 inches in Anahuac, 2.72 inches at Houston Hobby Airport and Galveston, and 2.09 inches at Jamaica Beach.
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 Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 30, 9:33 AM CST, 1 hour 27 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 30, 9:33 AM CST, 1 hour 27 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1033 AM CDT SAT AUG 30 2003
TD 11 FORMED IN GULF THIS AM AND TPC FORECAST IS TO MAKE LANDFALL
NEAR MATAGORDA BAY SUNDAY 7 AMISH. TROPICAL STORM WARNINGS CRP TO
HIGH ISLAND. GRADIENT WINDS ALREADY PUCKERING UP WELL DISPLACED EAST
AND NORTHEAST OF CENTER. IMPRESSIVE CONVECTION DEVELOPING ON THE EAST
SIDE OF THE CIRCULATION (15Z OB AT 42002 330/08KTS). WILL CRANK POPS
WAY UP AND MENTION HEAVY RAINFALL THROUGH SUNDAY. WILL ISSUE A FLOOD
WATCH AROUND NOON.
TROUBLESOME ISSUE IS THE TRACK AFTER LANDFALL. SLOW MOVING UPPER LOW
THAT IS WEST OF THE CIRCULATION SHOULD MOVE NORTHWEST TOWARD CENTRAL
TEXAS BY 00Z MONDAY. SOUTHEAST TEXAS SHOULD BE IN FOR A VERY WET 2 TO
4 DAYS
45/43/31
.HGX...TROPICAL STORM WARNING HIGH ISLAND TO MATAGORDA SHIP
CHANNEL.Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 30, 8:28 AM CST, 2 hours 32 minutes before
GMZ330-335-350-355-370-375-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-
227-235>238-311100-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
928 AM CDT SAT AUG 30 2003
...TROPICAL DEPRESSION 11 DEVELOPS IN THE CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO...
...TROPICAL STORM WARNINGS IN EFFECT FROM HIGH ISLAND TO CORPUS
CHRISTI TEXAS...
...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY...
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS.
.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF THE TEXAS
COAST EXTENDING FROM HIGH ISLAND TO CORPUS CHRISTI. DEVELOPING
TROPICAL DEPRESSION 11 WILL STRENGTHEN TODAY AND TONIGHT AND IS
EXPECTED TO BECOME TROPICAL STORM GRACE. THE CENTER OF THIS STORM
IS FORECAST TO CROSS THE TEXAS COAST NEAR PORT OCONNOR EARLY
SUNDAY MORNING. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME
WIDESPREAD THIS AFTERNOON WITH RAINFALL TOTALS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES
POSSIBLE AND ANOTHER 1 TO 2 INCHES TONIGHT. HEAVIER TOTALS ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE. PLEASE REFER TO HLSHOU FOR MORE DETAILS REGARDING THIS
DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.
TROPICAL DEPRESSION 11 OR MORE LIKELY TROPICAL STORM GRACE
WILL MOVE ACROSS TEXAS ON SUNDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS AGAIN
POSSIBLE ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS ON SUNDAY AS DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE
REMAINS IN PLACE. ANOTHER 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN N IS EXPECTED ON
SUNDAY. IF THIS TROPICAL SYSTEM MOVES SLOWER THAN EXPECTED...THE
THREAT FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL MAY CONTINUE ON INTO MONDAY. THE
CHANCE FOR RAIN WILL CONTINUE INTO TUESDAY NIGHT. DRIER WEATHER IS
EXPECTED TO BEGIN TO FILTER INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS ON WEDNESDAY.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR
ACTIVATION. PREPAREDNESS PLANS SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED.
Tropical Storm, Brazoria
- When
- August 30, 11:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Brazoria forecast zone
- Property damage
- $30,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 29.168, -95.434 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Tropical Storm Grace became the second tropical cyclone in less than two months to make landfall around Port O'Connor (Hurricane Claudette struck there on July 15th). Grace ended up being a heavy rain producer for portions of the Upper Texas Coast where some flooding was observed. There was no damage due to Grace's winds.Grace developed from a tropical wave that moved across the Yucatan Peninsula and into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico late on August 29th. Development was inhibited by strong vertical wind shear. On August 30th, the shear lessened and a tropical depression formed about 335 miles east southeast of Corpus Christi. Reports from a ship and a reconnaissance aircraft indicated that the cyclone had strengthened into Tropical Storm Grace later that day. Grace moved in a general northwestward direction and remained poorly organized until it made landfall along the central Texas coast near Port O'Connor on August 31st. The system continued to move inland and quickly weakened to a depression. Weak outer rain bands containing heavy rainfall continued to develop near the coast well after Grace had weakened and produced additional heavy rainfall that lead to some flooding. Heavy rainfall between 6 and 15 inches was observed from extreme eastern Galveston County to across the Bolivar Peninsula and northward into Chambers and portions of Liberty Counties. Some roads were flooded in these areas. A secondary area of very heavy rainfall was over southern Matagorda County where an estimated 6 to 12 inches was observed. The majority of this rain fell on the early morning hours of September 1st. The Corps of Engineers at the Matagorda River Locks (Matagorda, Matagorda County) reported 9 inches of rain between 1 AM and 7 AM CST on that day. This heavy rainfall flooded roads and a few homes.Beach erosion was minor. Water did get up to the dunes but little additional damage was done to the beaches beyong what Hurricane Claudette had already done.There was one waterspout observed in association with Grace just off of Pirates Beach on the west end of Galveston Island. The waterspout dissipated before moving inland.Storm official total rainfall amounts (August 30th to September 1st) included 7.13 inches in League City, 6.47 inches in Pearland, 5.57 inches in Freeport and 5.01 inches in Jamaica Beach.
Tropical Storm, Chambers
- When
- August 30, 11:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Chambers forecast zone
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 29.708, -94.671 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Tropical Storm, Galveston
- When
- August 30, 11:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Galveston forecast zone
- Property damage
- $7,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 29.298, -94.811 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Tropical Storm, Harris
- When
- August 30, 11:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Harris forecast zone
- Property damage
- $8,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 29.857, -95.392 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Tropical Storm, Liberty
- When
- August 30, 11:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Liberty forecast zone
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 30.152, -94.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
- Tropical Storm
- A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Flash Flood in Kansas, August 30 to 31, 20036 deaths · $250,000 · 1 event
- Rip Current in Florida, August 30, 20031 death · 1 event
- Rip Current in Florida, August 30, 20031 death · 1 event
- Rip Current in Florida, August 30, 20031 death · 1 event
- Lightning Strike in Virginia, August 30, 20031 death · 1 event
- Lightning Strike in Delaware, August 30, 2003$800,000 · 1 event
- Flash Flooding in Texas, August 30, 2003$210,000 · 7 events
- Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, August 30, 2003$50,000 · 1 event
- Flash Flood in Ohio, August 30, 2003$25,000 · 1 event
- Flash Flood in Ohio, August 30, 2003$20,000 · 1 event
- Lightning Strike in Delaware, August 30, 2003$20,000 · 1 event
- Lightning Strike in New Jersey, August 30, 20031 injured · 1 event
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: 5378853, 5378854, 5378855, 5378856, 5378857.