4 flash flood, 3 heavy rain, 1 lightning, 1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 20, 9:33 PM CST, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 933 PM CST THU FEB 20 2003 PUBLIC UPDATE... WILL ADJUST MIN TEMPS TONIGHT...MAINLY IN THE CENTRAL SECTION...BUT DO NOT ANTICIPATE ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES AT THIS TIME. THE THREAT OF FLOODING WILL CONTINUE OVER NORTH TEXAS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS...WITH THE HIGHEST STORM TOTALS TO NOW IN THE FAR SOUTH. RADAR ESTIMATES OF 6 TO 8 INCHES ARE AT LEAST 20 PERCENT OVERESTIMATED...MEANING 5 TO 6 INCHES ARE MORE LIKELY...BUT NO PROBLEMS SO FAR. THERE IS A WAVE OF ENERGY MOVING THROUGH THE SOUTHWEST PART OF THE CWA NOW...WITH THE NEXT SHOT IN WEST TEXAS THAT SHOULD ARRIVE TOWARD DAYBREAK FRIDAY. THUS...THREAT OF FLOODING APPEARS MINIMAL FROM AROUND MIDNIGHT UNTIL THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. 42 .AVIATION DISCUSSION... ISENTROPIC LIFT WILL CONTINUE WITH LIFT ONLY INCREASING AS FIRST H5 SHORT WAVE MOVES INTO N TEXAS LATER TONIGHT. LIFT ONLY INCREASES ON FRIDAY. THUS...EXPECT IFR TO LIFR ENTIRE TAF PERIOD. LOOKS LIKE BEST CHANCE OF TSRA WOULD BE MAINLY FOR KACT AND THIS SHOULD BE MAINLY AFTER 10Z. WINDS ACROSS METRO AIRPORTS HAVE BEEN LIGHT AND EASTERLY...THIS WILL BE PROBLEMATIC...AS SURFACE LOW IS IN DEEP S TEXAS. THIS LOW SHOULD MOVE SLOWLY NE AND BRING WINDS NE AGAIN TOWARD MORNING. 80 .PUBLIC DISCUSSION ISSUED AT 345 PM... COMPLEX FORECAST TODAY. WE LOOKED VERY HEAVILY AT THE QPF FOR NORTH TEXAS THROUGH FRIDAY AND FEEL THAT THE HPC DAY 2 IS RIGHT ON TRACK WITH AN AXIS OF HEAVY RAIN ACROSS THE METROPLEX INTO NORTHEAST TX. THE LATEST MESOETA FROM 1800 UTC TODAY HAS BECOME WETTER...WITH NEARLY 3 INCHES OVER CENTRAL THROUGH NORTHEAST ZONES BY 0300 SATURDAY. OF CONCERN AT THIS TIME IS POSITION OF ELEVATED FRONT (AROUND 925 MB). THIS FRONT AT 1200 UTC TODAY LINED UP VERY WELL WITH HEAVY RAIN OVER SOUTHEASTERN COUNTIES. ETA CONTINUES TO INDICATE THAT THIS FRONT WILL MOVE NORTH INTO CENTRAL ZONES... SHIFTING THE FOCUS OF HEAVY RAIN NORTH. FEEL WE ARE ALREADY SEEING THIS AS RAIN IS INCREASING IN COVERAGE/INTENSITY OVER CENTRAL ZONES SOUTHWEST INTO THE SAN ANGELO CWA. ADDITIONALLY...IMPRESSIVE SHORTWAVE MOVING OUT OF NORTHERN MEXICO WITH VAST RAIN SHIELD AND INCREASING THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SHOULD MOVE OVER THE CWA LATER TONIGHT. ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED FRIDAY AS MAIN UPPER LOW MOVES TOWARD THE AREA AND 850-HPA LOW TRACKS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF CWA. THUS...WE HAVE DECIDED TO EXPAND THE FLOOD WATCH TO ENCOMPASS METROPLEX AND NORTHEASTERN COUNTIES. NOT OVERLY CONCERNED AT THIS POINT ABOUT SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THREAT GIVEN THAT THE MAIN SYSTEM SHOULD COME OUT VERTICALLY STACKED WITH POOR WIND PROFILES EXPECTED. ADDITIONALLY...SURFACE-BASED CAPES DO NOT APPEAR FAVORABLE TO SUPPORT A WIDESPREAD SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THREAT THROUGHOUT THIS EVENT. HAVING SAID THAT...WE CANNOT RULE OUT AN ISOLATED ELEVATED THUNDERSTORM...ESPECIALLY OVER SOUTHERN ZONES...GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF THE DYNAMICS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM. MUCH COLDER WEATHER ON TAP FOR MONDAY AS ARCTIC FRONT MOVES IN. HOWEVER...THE SIGNALS THAT WE SAW YESTERDAY FOR LIGHT SNOW ON MONDAY ARE NO LONGER THERE. THUS...WE WILL EXCLUDE ANY PRECIPITATION FOR MONDAY. ROBBINS DFW 46 50 42 60 / 100 100 30 0 ACT 47 51 43 63 / 100 100 30 0 PRX 45 49 44 58 / 90 90 30 0 DTO 46 50 41 59 / 90 90 30 0 TKI 46 50 42 60 / 90 90 30 0 DAL 46 50 42 60 / 100 100 30 0 TRL 46 50 44 61 / 100 100 30 0 CRS 47 51 45 62 / 100 100 30 0 TPL 47 51 43 64 / 100 100 30 0 .FWD... TX...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT AND FRIDAY FOR ZONES TXZ094>095... TXZ104>107...TXZ118>123...TXZ133>135...TXZ142>148...TXZ156>162... TXZ174>175.
TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-211000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 334 PM CST THU FEB 20 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE... THERE IS A THREAT OF HEAVY RAINFALL TONIGHT FOR THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF NORTH TEXAS. A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT ALONG AND SOUTHEAST OF A GOLDTHWAITE...MERIDIAN...FORT WORTH...BONHAM LINE TONIGHT THROUGH 600 PM FRIDAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THE THREAT OF HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE FRIDAY OVER THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF NORTH TEXAS AS THE MAIN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE STATE. IN ADDITION...THERE COULD BE A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LAMPASAS... WACO... CENTERVILLE LINE...MAINLY FRIDAY AFTERNOON. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE TONIGHT FOR HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLOODING POTENTIAL...AND ON FRIDAY DUE TO THE POTENTIAL FOR A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAINFALL.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 flash flood, 3 heavy rain, 1 lightning, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous farm to market roads flooded, mainly near creeks and streams.
Several bridges on county roads washed out or flooded. High water was reported on Highway 84 east, and on FM 937.
Numerous county roads and farm to market roads closed due to high water or bridges washed out.
Numerous farm to market roads and county roads closed due to high water, mainly near creeks and streams.
Water was over FM 1119 just south of FM 811, and water across service roads of Interstate 45 south of Centerville and west service road north of Centerville.
Streets on the east side of town were flooded, and just north of town some streets were flooded.
Low water crossings were closed in Harker Heights, Salado, Belton, and Killeen.
A lightning bolt made an 8 by 10 foot hole in the roof of a house.
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: 5347977, 5347619, 5347620, 5347978, 5347615, 5347617, 5347618, 5346174, 5347616.