Flash Flood in Texas, July 16, 2003

Name: Flash Flood in Texas, July 16, 2003
Start: 2003-07-16T18:30
End: 2003-07-16T21:00
Location: Texas

July 16, 2003 · NWS EWX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash 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: $5,000
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 Jul 16, 1:10 PM CST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 1:10 PM CST, 5 hours 20 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
210 PM CDT WED JUL 16 2003

TROPICAL DEPRESSION CLAUDETTE CONTINUES MOVING WEST INTO NORTHERN
MEXICO THIS AFTERNOON WHILE A TROPICAL WAVE CONNECTED TO CLAUDETTES
BROAD CIRCULATION OVER THE WESTERN GULF CONTINUED TO BRING TROPICAL
SHOWERS...THUNDERSTORMS INTO THE AREA FROM THE SOUTH.  MESOETA SHOWS
THIS FEATURE LINGERING OVER THE AREA DURING THE EARLY EVENING
HOURS...SO WILL CONTINUE FLASH FLOOD WATCH TIL AROUND SUNSET. STRONG
RIDGING BUILDS SOUTHWARD ACROSS AREA THURSDAY BUT WITH THIS MUCH
SURFACE BASED MOISTURE...EXPECT TO SEE A LOW POP DAY FOR SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS.
RIDGING ALOFT CONTINUES FRIDAY WITH ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE...AIRMASS
TYPE SHOWERS. WILL CUT OFF PRECIPITATION CHANCES FOR SATURDAY
THROUGH MONDAY AS CONTINUED STRONG RIDGING DRIES LOWER LEVELS.

UNUSUALLY DEEP (FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR) UPPER TROUGH DIGS INTO
MIDWEST NEXT TUESDAY GIVING US OUR NEXT SHOT AT PRECIPITATION AS
WEAK FRONT AND UPPER DISTURBANCE MOVES INTO SOUTH CENTRAL
TEXAS.

PRELIMS...
AUS 072/093 071/095 072 32020
DRT 074/093 075/096 076 43000
SAT 073/090 074/094 075 33000

.EWX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TIL 9 PM CDT FOR PART OF S CNTRL TX ALONG
       AND WEST OF A LINE FROM JOHNSON CITY TO SAN MARCOS TO
       HALLETTSVILLE LINE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 16, 4:00 AM CST, 14 hours 30 minutes before

TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-171000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
500 AM CDT WED JUL 16 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY
CLAUDETTE WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE A THREAT OF HEAVY RAIN AND FLASH
FLOODING TODAY OVER MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE HILL
COUNTRY.  BANDS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY WILL
CONTINUE TO SPREAD NORTHWARD INTO THE AREA.  THERE IS ALSO A
SECONDARY THREAT OF ISOLATED SHORT LIVED TORNADOES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
CLAUDETTE WILL MOVE WELL WEST INTO MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS BY DAY
TWO...HOWEVER THERE WILL STILL BE A CHANCE OF RESIDUAL SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA.  HOWEVER NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS
EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 16, 1:29 PM CST, 5 hours 1 minute before

TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-162000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
229 PM CDT WED JUL 16 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR MEDINA COUNTY UNTIL 345 PM
CDT...
...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR KARNES COUNTY UNTIL 330 PM
CDT...
...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR BEXAR COUNTY UNTIL 3 PM
CDT...
...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE WESTERN THREE-QUARTERS
OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS INCLUDING SAN ANTONIO AND DEL RIO THROUGH 6
PM CDT...
...A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR VAL VERDE COUNTY THIS
AFTERNOON...

NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHWEST AT
AROUND 25 MPH ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON.
SOME THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED ACROSS AREAS THAT HAVE ALREADY
RECEIVED RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 6 INCHES.

AT 229 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THE HEAVIEST RAINS OVER THE HILL
COUNTRY AND CENTRAL SECTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. HEAVY RAINFALL
IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD BACK INTO THE SOUTHEASTERN AND WESTERN
SECTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON.

IN ADDITION TO THIS FLASH FLOOD THREAT...THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF
ISOLATED BRIEF TORNADOES FROM THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER UPDATES AND
POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

Local storm report, Jul 16, 5:24 PM CST, 1 hour 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO, TX
624 PM CDT WED JUL 16 2003

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

0700 AM    DEL RIO                   TX   WIND DAMAGE
07/16/03   VAL VERDE                      POWER LINES AND TREES
                                          DOWN, ROOFS DAMAGED
                                          COUNTYWIDE
                                          REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

DC

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Val Verde

When: July 16, 6:30 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Val Verde County, West Portion
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.893, -101.152 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

As the remnants of Claudette exited the western portion of South Central Texas, they left behind a slow moving line of moderate showers and thunderstorms in Western Val Verde County. The showers formed in the late afternoon and continued through much of the evening. Flash flooding develop as general rainfall of 1 to 2 inches accumulated. Highest totals were in the extreme western part of the county, near the Terrell County line, where up to 7 inches was indicated.

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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

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: 5375441.