Name: Tropical Storm in Texas, July 15, 2003
Start: 2003-07-15T14:00
End: 2003-07-15T19:00
Location: Texas

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: $2.0 million
Crop damage: $500,000
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 Jul 15, 10:55 AM CST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 15, 10:55 AM CST, 3 hours 5 minutes before

FXUS64 KEWX 151221 RRA
AFDSAT

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
1155 AM CDT TUE JUL 15 2003

ADDED WIND ADVISORY TO AREAS ALONG AND EAST OF THE ESCARPMENT ON THE
UPDATE. EVALUATING RAINFALL AND WIND POTENTIAL ATTM AND WILL LIKELY
ISSUE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE ENTIRE AREA TONIGHT.

PRELIMS...
AUS TT 089/073 088/075 090 087773
DRT BT 094/074 081/075 089 083898
SAT TT 088/073 084/075 089 088985

.EWX...HIGH WIND WARNING THIS AFTERNOON FOR DEWITT...KARNES AND
LAVACA COUNTIES.
FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR LAVACA...DEWITT...KARNES...FAYETTE...
GONZALES...WILSON AND ATASCOSA COUNTIES FOR THIS AFTERNOON
WIND ADVISORY FOR REMAINDER OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS EAST OF ESCARPMENT
FOR THIS AFTERNOON.

02/19

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tropical storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Tropical Storm, Karnes

When: July 15, 2:00 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Karnes forecast zone
Property damage: $2.0 million
Crop damage: $500,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 28.906, -97.859 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Former Hurricane Claudette, now Tropical Storm Claudette, produced widespread damage in Karnes County, knocking over hundreds of trees and power poles. Major damage was reported to14 homes, along with minor damage to another 237. Nearly every home in Kenedy reported some type of damage. Most of the damage was caused to roofs by a combination of high winds and falling trees. An unofficial weather station at a manufacturing plant in Kenedy recorded a peak wind gust of 106 mph. However, the wind instrument was blown over to the side prior to the recorded gust, making the report of uncertain reliability. The storm knocked over several dozen power poles and hundreds of people without power for a period of several days. The cost to repair electric services was estimated at $400,000.

What these are

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.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, July 2003 The 2003 hurricane season

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: 5376479.