Tropical Storm in Texas, July 15, 2003

Name: Tropical Storm in Texas, July 15, 2003
Start: 2003-07-15T18:00
End: 2003-07-15T23:30
Location: Texas

July 15, 2003 · NWS EWX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tropical storm, 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: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $700,000
Crop damage: $100,000
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, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 15, 2:30 PM CST, 3 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, 3 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

Special weather statement, Jul 15, 5:04 PM CST, 56 minutes before

TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-160030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
604 PM CDT TUE JUL 15 2003

...URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY UNTIL 715 PM FOR KARNES
   COUNTY...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON WEDNESDAY FOR ALL OF
   SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE HILL COUNTY...
...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR ATASCOSA... KARNES
   WILSON... DEWITT... GONZALES AND LAVACA COUNTIES...
...HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR ATASCOSA... DEWITT
   KARNES... LAVACA AND WILSON COUNTIES...

TROPICAL STORM CLAUDETTE IS NOW CENTERED BETWEEN GEORGE WEST AND
BEEVILLE MOVING WEST AT 10 TO 15 MPH.  THE HEAVIEST RAINS OVERNIGHT
WILL OCCUR NEAR THE CENTER OF THE STORM AS IT TRACKS WESTWARD ACROSS
SOUTHERN ATASCOSA...FRIO...ZAVALA...DIMMIT AND MAVERICK COUNTIES.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS EFFECT OVERNIGHT AS THE OUTER CONVECTIVE
BANDS WILL PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AWAY FROM THE CENTER.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL AVERAGE 2 TO 4 INCHES ACROSS ALL OF SOUTH
CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE HILL COUNTRY. HIGHER TOTALS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES
ARE POSSIBLE CLOSER TO THE CENTER OF THE STORM TRACK.

CAMPERS...HIKERS...AND THOSE WITH INTERESTS ALONG RIVERS AND
STREAMS...AS WELL AS THOSE IN LOW LYING AREAS SHOULD PREPARE FOR A
HEAVY RAIN EVENT.  SOME SOILS REMAIN MOIST FROM RAINS OF THE PAST
COUPLE OF WEEKS...AND RUNOFF COULD BECOME RAPID.

PERSONS IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE HILL COUNTRY ARE ADVISED TO
MONITOR THIS DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION.

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, Atascosa

When: July 15, 6:00 PM CST to 11:30 PM CST
Where: Atascosa forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $700,000
Crop damage: $100,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 28.894, -98.527 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The high winds from former Hurricane Claudette, now Tropical Storm Claudette, struck in the evening of July 15 and continued through most of the night - mainly over the southern part of the county. Winds were unofficially estimated at between 60 and 70 mph with gusts near 80 mph. About 100 homes lost power for a period of several hours to two days. 5 to 6 trailers were blown over by the high winds along mile markers 81 and 91 of I-37 in southern Atascosa County. Minor damage was reported to 6 homes, most of it to the roofs. The greatest tragedy of the Hurricane occurred near 7 pm in the evening when a 13 year-old boy from Jourdanton was leaving his front yard to get in a vehicle. Just before he entered the vehicle, a large tree was blown over by the high winds and landed on top of him. In spite of rapid response by neighbors and EMS, the youth died.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tropical Storm, Atascosa	2003-07-15	13	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

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

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: 5379104.