Name: Tropical Storm in Texas, July 15, 2003
Start: 2003-07-15T17:00
End: 2003-07-15T20:00
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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: $50,000
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, 2:30 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 15, 2:30 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

FXUS64 KEWX 151221 RRA
AFDSAT

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
330 PM CDT TUE JUL 15 2003

WILL ISSUE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE ENTIRE SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
AREA TONIGHT. HURRICANE CLAUDETTE HAS SPED UP THIS AFTERNOON
SO CORE RAINS LATE TONIGHT SHULD NOT BE A PROBLEM IN OUR AREA.  THE
ONLY ENCHANCEMENT SHOULD BE ALONG THE ESCARPMENT TONIGHT.
CLAUDETTES CORE SHOULD MOVE INTO MEXICO LATE TONIGHT WITH DECREASING
RAINS FROM EAST TO WEST. WERE GOING OUT WITH 2 TO 4 INCH AMOUNTS
AREAWIDE
TONIGHT WITH SOME ENHANCEMENT ALONG THE ESCARPMENT.

AFTER CLAUDETTE PASSES...THINGS HSOULD SETTLE DOWN FOR A COUPLE OF
DAYS...BUT RESIDUAL MOISTURE WILL BE ENOUGH FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS
AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS IN DAYTIME HEATING.

PRELIMS...
AUS 070/088 073/092 072 54341
DRT 073/085 073/093 074 89852
SAT 071/089 071/091 074 98541

.EWX...HIGH WIND WARNING THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR
KARNES...DEWITT AND LAVACA COUNTIES.
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ENTIRE SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AREA INCLUDING
THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY.
...WIND ADVISORY FOR THE REMAINDER OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TONIGHT
OUTSIDE OF THE HIGH WIND WARNING AREA.

02/19

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 15, 2:25 PM CST, 2 hours 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO, TX
325 PM CDT TUE JUL 15 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0300 PM    CUERO                     TX   WIND DAMAGE
07/15/03   DEWITT                         STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO MANY
                                          HOMES, POWER LINES DOWN
                                          REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

PM

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, Wilson

When: July 15, 5:00 PM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Wilson forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: $50,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 29.174, -98.087 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Former Hurricane Claudette, now Tropical Storm Claudette, produced damaging winds briefly during the evening of July 15. Emergency Management personnel reported scores of trees knocked down, along with hundreds of tree limbs. Minor damage was also reported to one barn. A cow was killed in Poth when it was struck by a power pole that had been knocked down. Around 1000 people lost power for several hours.

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: 5376480.