10 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 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 Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 20, 5:30 AM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 530 AM CST THU FEB 20 2003 A FRONTAL FLASH FLOOD EVENT IS LIKELY TODAY EVOLVING INTO A FRONTAL/SYNOPTIC SCALE FLASH FLOOD EVENT TONIGHT INTO EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. OVERRUNNING GULF MOISTURE (RICH AND CONDITIONALLY UNSTABLE) WILL LIFT OVER SHALLOW COOL DOME ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TODAY. IMPULSES WILL EJECT FROM THE UPPER LOW TO THE WEST WHICH BECOMING INCREASINGLY DIFFLUENT ALOFT. THE RESULT WILL BE INCREASING CHANCES THROUGHOUT THE DAY OF SHOWERS AND HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS. BY EVENING...SATURATED GROUND CONDITIONS MAY EXIST...PARTICULARLY OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE REGION. TONIGHT..THE UPPER LOW WILL MAKE ITS ENTRANCE WITH ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...INCREASING DIFFLUENCE AND COLDER AIR ALOFT WILL RESULT IN THE ADDITIONAL POSSIBILITY OF LARGE HAIL...THIS MAY ALSO OCCUR AS EARLY AS THIS AFTERNOON SO INCLUDED SEVERE POSSIBILITY FOR TODAY AS WELL. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD END FROM THE WEST BY LATE FRIDAY MORNING...THEN CLEARING FROM THE WEST FRIDAY AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. A NICE WEEKEND IN STORE AS NORTHWEST TO WEST FLOW ALOFT DOMINATES. CLOUDS WILL RETURN EARLY NEXT WEEK AS RETURN FLOW BRINGS GULF MOISTURE. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL PUSH INTO THE AREA BY MIDWEEK. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... AUS 057/055 062/046 066 8+92 DRT 060/058 065/048 074 8+90 SAT 059/056 069/052 068 8+90= .EWX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. 02/06 02/06
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-211200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 600 AM CST THU FEB 20 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY...EXCESSIVE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE EXPECTED OVER ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TODAY. AS A WINTER STORM SYSTEM APPROACHES SOUTH TEXAS TONIGHT, AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE AND FLASH FLOODING BECOMES LIKELY. ALSO THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... AN ADDITIONAL ONE INCH OF RAIN FRIDAY IS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE WINTER STORM EXITS SOUTH TEXAS. FLASH FLOODING AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN UNTIL AROUND NOON FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON.
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:57 UTC.
10 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash flooding began in the mid morning and continued into the afternoon as general 1 to 2 inch rainfall was indicated across the county. The flash flooding was made worse by the saturated soils across the county.
General 1 inch rainfall with isolated totals to 2 inches, combined with area soils that were already saturated, caused countywide flash flooding from the mid morning into the mid afternoon.
Numerous city and county roads were closed as a general 1 to 2 inch rain fell across the county. The saturated soils contributed to the rapid development of the flash flooding and the rather long duration of the flooding, closing up to a dozen roads.
Numerous roads closed as up to 3 inches fell over the area. Due to the soaked soils over the area, flash flooding was more widespread and long-lasting than it normally would have been. Students in the Navarro District were unable to get home by bus that afternoon as roads were closed due to flooding. Several school programs were cancelled that evening. Around a dozen roads were closed due to flooding.
A general 1 to 2 inch rainfall with up to 3 inches maximum fell over already saturated soils by early morning. It produced widespread flash flooding across the county from the mid morning into the late afternoon. The Emergency Manager reported that at least a score of county and city roads were closed by 11 am that morning and most remained closed through the afternoon. Several schools released students early in the afternoon.
The combination of soils that were already saturated with an additional 2 to 3 inches of rainfall developed flash flooding across the county from the mid morning into the afternoon period. Dozens of city and county roads were flooded and closed. Two individuals were very fortunate as their car was stuck in a low-water crossing near Spicewood Springs Road. One person tried to exit the car and was washed downstream. The second attempted to rescue the first. Both escaped unharmed.
General 1 inch rainfall, with isolated totals to near 3 inches, when combined with soils that were already saturated, caused widespread flash flooding over the county.
The combination of a general 1 to 2 inch rainfall and soils that had remained soaked for several weeks caused rapid flash flooding to develop in the late morning and continue into the afternoon. One high water rescue was required. A man drove some 30 feet into deep water before his vehicle stalled. He climbed out of the flooding car and was forced to cling to its top for over an hour while rescue personnel were alerted and removed him.
Rainfall across the county averaged between 1 and 2 inches, with up to 4 inches in the south and east sections. As a result of the rain and the soils that had remained soaked for weeks, widespread flash flooding developed in the late morning and continued into the afternoon.
General 2 inch rainfall over the county, with isolated totals to 8 inches brought very rapid flash flooding across the county from the late morning into the early evening. Many of the county roads were closed. Schools in the area were dismissed early.
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, February 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: 5341213, 5341545, 5341214, 5341215, 5341544, 5341653, 5341654, 5341655, 5341656, 5341657.