Texas, 2003

Flash Flooding in Texas, July 5, 2003

July 5, 2003 · NWS EWX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

4 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
$35,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
4

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 5, 3:06 AM CST, 3 hours 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 5, 3:06 AM CST, 3 hours 24 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
406 AM CDT SAT JUL 5 2003

WILL MAINTAIN FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY. PERSISTENT UPPER LOW NEAR
THE BIG BEND IS SENDING ANOTHER SHORT-WAVE ACROSS SOUTHERN TEXAS.
WIDELY SCATTERED CONVECTION ALREADY IN CWA WITH WIDESPREAD CONVECTION
ALONG THE COASTAL PLAIN TRACKING TOWARD CWA. PWS BETWEEN 1.9 AND 2.4
INCHES INDICATE THE POTENTIAL FOR VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND DUE TO
RECENT RAINS, SOILS HAVE BECOME MOIST HAS RESULTED IN RUNOFF BECOMING
MORE RAPID AND SOME STREAMS NOT FALLING BACK TO NORMAL LEVELS. EXPECT
CONVECTION TO DECREASE OVERNIGHT, THEN REDEVELOP ON SUNDAY AS UPPER
LOW REMAINS JUST WEST OF AREA. WATCH MAY THEN HAVE TO BE EXTENDED OR
RECONFIGURED. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WELL BELOW AVERAGE DUE
CLOUDS AND RAIN WITH LOW TEMPERATURES ABOUT AVERAGE DUE SOIL MOISTURE
INCREASE.

BEYOND SUNDAY NIGHT, FORECAST BECOMES A LITTLE MORE DIFFICULT. MODELS
WANT TO TAKE UPPER LOW WEST ACROSS MEXICO AS UPPER RIDGE BUILDS OVER
THE TOP OF IT WHILE A TUTT LOW DRIFTS WEST ACROSS THE NORTHWESTERN
GULF OF MEXICO. THERE WILL PROBABLY BE A NARROW ZONE OF SUBSIDENCE
WHICH SHOULD INHIBIT CONVECTION DURING THE NIGHTTIME HOURS, EXCEPT
OUT WEST WHERE SOME INFLUENCE OF UPPER LOW CONTINUES AND IN THE FAR
EAST DUE INCREASING INFLUENCE OF TUTT LOW. ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY,
TUTT LOW MOVES ACROSS SOUTHERN TEXAS WITH CONVECTION EXPECTED AREA
WIDE. BY FRIDAY, MODELS SHOW TUTT LOW WELL WEST OF CWA AND FOR NOW,
WILL KEEP FRIDAY POP-FREE, ALTHOUGH LATER SHIFTS MAY HAVE HAVE
INCLUDE IF MOVEMENT IS SLOWER THAN FORECAST. TEMPERATURES SHOULD
GRADUALLY WARM UNDER INFLUENCE OF UPPER RIDGE.

PRELIMS...
AUS 086/073 091/073 093 84413
DRT 090/072 092/075 095 75443
SAT 086/073 091/074 093 84413

.EWX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH 23Z TODAY...GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST
OF A ROCKSPRINGS TO CARRIZO SPRINGS LINE.

04/19
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 5, 5:00 AM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-061100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
600 AM CDT SAT JUL 5 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT TODAY FOR MOST OF SOUTH CENTRAL
TEXAS AND THE HILL COUNTRY...EXCEPT THE COUNTIES OF VAL
VERDE...KINNEY AND MAVERICK. A UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM TO THE WEST
CONTINUES TO THE THE FOCUS FOR THE UNSTABLE WEATHER CONDITIONS OVER
SOUTH CENTRAL. SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BRING
MOISTURE INTO THE REGION. THIS WILL RESULT IN INTERMITTENT PERIODS
OF RAIN THROUGH TODAY. RAINFALL AMOUNTS FOR TODAY WILL BE 1 TO 3
INCHES...WITH ISOLATED 3 TO 6 INCH POSSIBLE. THIS TYPE OF RAIN WILL
PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.
RAINFALL COVERAGE AND INTENSITY WILL DECREASE SUNDAY THROUGH
THURSDAY AS THE UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM DRIFTS AWAY FROM THE REGION.

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

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Bexar

When
July 5, 6:30 AM CST to 8:30 AM CST
Where
Bexar County, West Portion
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
29.449, -98.520 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Scattered showers and thunderstorms forming in Bexar County just prior to sunrise produced general 2 to 3 inch rain totals over the western half of the county. Flash flooding developed and continued into the mid morning. The San Antonio Police Department reported more than 30 roads closed due to flash flooding.

Flash Flood, Medina

When
July 5, 7:00 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where
Medina County, Countywide
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
29.356, -99.110 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

As the showers and thunderstorms spread westward from Bexar County into Medina County, they slowed. The county received a general 1 to 2 inch rain with isolated totals of 5 to 6 inches. The Medina County Sheriff's Department reported some of the worst flooding around the D'Hanis area. Roads remained closed across the county from shortly after sunrise through the late afternoon.

Flash Flood, Uvalde

When
July 5, 7:00 AM CST to 5:00 PM CST
Where
Uvalde County, Southeast Portion
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
29.357, -99.762 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Showers and thunderstorms spreading westward from Medina County into Uvalde and Frio Counties produced general 1 to 2 inch accumulations over the southeast corner of Uvalde County. Embedded in these amounts were isolated accumulations of 5 to 6 inches. Flash flooding continued from morning into late afternoon.

Flash Flood, Frio

When
July 5, 10:00 AM CST to 4:00 PM CST
Where
Frio County, Countywide
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
28.868, -99.108 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

As the showers and thunderstorms moved into Frio County, they produced general 1 to 2 inch accumulations, with isolated totals of 4 to 5 inches across the northwest corner of Frio County. Flash flooding developed in the late morning and continued through the mid afternoon.

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

More

Every storm in Texas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5379186, 5379187, 5379188, 5379479.