Name: Tropical Storm in Texas, July 16, 2003
Start: 2003-07-16T06:00
End: 2003-07-16T10:00
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: $80,000
Crop damage: $20,000
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 16, 6:00 AM CST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 6:00 AM CST, 0 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
700 AM CDT WED JUL 16 2003

RAIN BANDS ASSOCIATED WITH CLAUDETTE EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE AREA
THROUGH THE MORNING BECOMING SCATTERED AREAS OF RAIN EVOLVING IN
THE AFTERNOON.  WILL GO FOR FLASH FLOOD WATCH THRU NOON FOR PARTS
OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND HILL COUNTRY.   SHOWERS EXPECTED TO
DIMINISH THIS EVENING OVER EAST PART OF AREA AND CONTINUE OVER
WESTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THROUGH THE EVENING AND
TO EARLY MORNING HOURS.  ON THURSDAY EXPECT SCATTERED SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS TO FORM WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND THEN DIMINISH
QUICKLY IN THE EARLY EVENING.

MORE STABLE CONDITIONS EXPECTED FRIDAY...WITH WIDELY SCATTERED
SHOWERS.  HIGH ALOFT BUILDS STEADILY OVER SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...BRINGING STABLE JULY WX PATTERN TO
THE AREA.  WILL GO FOR LITTLE OR NO RAIN THIS WEEKEND TO THE
EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK.

PRELIMS...
AUS 089/073 092/071 095 52402
DRT 086/073 093/074 095 96422
SAT 087/073 091/074 091 83402

.EWX...HIGH WIND WARNING THRU NOON FOR VAL VERDE COUNTY.
       WIND ADVISORY FOR THE WEST AND SOUTHWEST PART OF
       SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THRU 4 PM
       FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR PART OF S CNTRL TX ALONG A WEST OF A
       JOHNSON CITY TO SAN MARCOS TO HALLETTSVILLE LINE THRU NOON
       TODAY.

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 16, 4:00 AM CST, 2 hours 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.

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, Val Verde

When: July 16, 6:00 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
Where: Val Verde forecast zone
Property damage: $80,000
Crop damage: $20,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 29.893, -101.152 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winds from former Hurricane Claudette, now Tropical Storm Claudette, began to increase near sunrise and by 6 am CST had reached 35 to 45 mph with gusts to 55 mph at the NWS Office at Del Rio. The winds began to taper off near 9 am CST were in the 20 to 30 mph range by noon. Scores of tree limbs knocked down were the only damage reported.

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: 5330068.