Texas, 2003

Flood in Texas, February 20 to 21, 2003

February 20 to 21, 2003 · NWS EWX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 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 Feb 20, 2:50 PM CST, 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 20, 2:50 PM CST, 42 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
250 PM CST THU FEB 20 2003

CWA TO REMAIN UNDER THE GUN.  SURFACE BOUNDARY HAD EDGED INTO OUR SE
COUNTIES AND SHOULD DRIFT A BIT NORTH OVERNIGHT INTO OUT NORTHEAST
COUNTIES.  SEVERE WEATHER TO BREAK OUT MAINLY LATER TONIGHT.  MAIN
THREAT WILL BE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS WITH ISOLATED TORNADOES ALONG
AND EAST OF THE SURFACE BOUNDARY.  GOOD SHOTS OF ENERGY EXPECTED
TONIGHT AND AGAIN FRIDAY AFTERNOON.  WILL EXTEND FLASH FLOOD WATCH
THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON.  UPPER SYSTEM WILL BE SLOW TO MOVE
THROUGH THE CWA WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NOT STARTING TO END
UNTIL FRIDAY EVENING IN THE WEST AND LATE FRIDAY NIGHT IN THE EAST.
NICE WEATHER FOR THE WEEKEND.  STRONG COLD FRONT BRINGS LOWS BACK IN
THE 30S FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY MORNINGS.  ANOTHER UPPER LOW WILL
BRING A RETURN OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE MIDDLE OF NEXT
WEEK.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
AUS  050 060/043 066 ++70
DRT  052 062/044 074 8+30
SAT  054 063/045 068 ++60=

.EWX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THOROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON FOR ALL OF
       SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

3/13/JB
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 20, 6:00 AM CST, 9 hours 32 minutes before
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 radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Caldwell

When
February 20, 3:32 PM CST to February 21, 11:43 PM CST
Where
Caldwell forecast zone
Reported by
OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates
29.837, -97.620 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The San Marcos River at Luling crested on February 21 at 28.74 feet at 0100CST, where 20.0 feet is flood stage.

What these are

Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, February 2003

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: 5341659.