An active round of severe thunderstorms, including a very serious flash flood situation, affected parts of West Texas on the 24th. The situation evolved as numerous thunderstorms developed along an outflow boundary which was roughly oriented along the Interstate 20 corridor in the Permian Basin.
Every event with a place to put it; 11 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS MAF wrote it up.
An active round of severe thunderstorms, including a very serious flash flood situation, affected parts of West Texas on the 24th. The situation evolved as numerous thunderstorms developed along an outflow boundary which was roughly oriented along the Interstate 20 corridor in the Permian Basin. The boundary then stretched northwest into southeast New Mexico. Storms trained along the boundary and continuosly moved across parts of Andrews, Ector, and Midland Counties. The combination of these factors and urban effects resulted in a deadly flash flood event in the city of Odessa. Large hail also accompanied the strongest storms.
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 Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 24, 12:15 PM CST, 2 hours 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 115 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 2003 FOR THE NEAR TERM...MCS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ONCE AGAIN TONIGHT. QUESTION IS HOW FAR SOUTH WILL THE MCS MAKE IT. BACKBUILDING FROM LAST NIGHTS MCS WAS ABLE TO CLIP OUR NORTHEASTERN ZONES. LOOKS LIKE A SIMILAR SITUATION MAY SET UP AGAIN TODAY...DEPENDING ON WHERE THE BEST CONVECTION STARTS UP. 850MB WINDS EARLY WERE FROM THE SSW...AND SHOULD BACK LATER THIS AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING AS A WEAK LEAD SHORTWAVE OUT AHEAD OF THE LOW OFF THE SOUTHERN CA COAST STARTS TO INFLUENCE THIS AREA. AS THE 850MB WINDS BACK...THEY ALSO PICK UP... AND A LLJ SETS UP ON TOP OF THE PERMIAN BASIN. THETA-E RIDGE AT 850MB ALSO POSITIONED OVER THE AREA FROM SW TO NE ACCORDING TO THE MESOETA AND ETA. THIS MAY ASSIST MCS IN BACKBUILDING FURTHER SOUTHWEST INTO OUR CWA. WILL HAVE A GOOD SET-UP TO SUSTAIN AN MCS IF THE INITIAL CONVECTION IS FAR ENOUGH SOUTH TO MAKE IT INTO THE AREA. IF CONVECTION STARTS TOO FAR NORTH...EXPECT A SIMILAR SITUATION TO LAST NIGHT WITH JUST THE NORTHEASTERN EDGE OF OUR CWA GETTING CLIPPED AGAIN. THIS IS BASED ON STEERING FLOW PROVIDED BY CORFIDI VECTORS. BELIEVE THIS SCENARIO IS MOST LIKELY...SO WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS NORTHEAST WITH SLIGHT EVERYWHERE ELSE EXCEPT THE MOUNTAINS. TOMORROW...FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL ENTER OUR CWA DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON HOURS SETTING UP A BETTER CHANCE FOR WIDER SPREAD PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE PERMIAN BASIN...TRANS PECOS...AND SOUTHEASTERN NM AREAS. HAVE UPPED THE POPS ACROSS THIS AREA FOR TOMORROW NIGHT AS ANOTHER LLJ SETS UP WITH AN 850MB THETA-E RIDGE PLANTED OVER THE TOP OF THE SAME AREA ORIENTED NW TO SE. MID/UPPER RIDGE IS ALSO BROKEN DOWN AT THIS TIME AS THE LOW NOW OFF THE SOUTHERN CA COAST MOVES ACROSS NORTHERN OLD MEXICO. LIFT AND DIFLUENT FLOW AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE SHOULD ALSO AID IN THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND EVENING FURTHER ARGUING FOR HIGHER POPS. FLOW WILL STILL BE FAIRLY WEAK ALOFT...SO THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE MOVING FAIRLY SLOWLY AND ALONG WITH POSSIBLE TRAINING...HEAVY RAIN THREAT IS STILL THERE. THERE IS ALSO A SEVERE THREAT OF MAINLY HAIL AND WINDS...BUT HEAVY RAIN IS MAIN CONCERN AT THIS TIME. DID NOT MAKE ANY BIG CHANGES TO THE FORECAST AFTER THAT. RETAINED CHANCE POPS ON MONDAY WITH BOUNDARY POSSIBLY STILL IN THE AREA TO PROVIDE A FOCUS. WILL ALSO KEEP THE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH MOST OF THE WEEK. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... MAF 66 84 57 77 / 30 50 60 40 CNM 66 85 57 79 / 30 50 50 30 MRF 58 85 54 76 / 30 30 50 40 FST 67 89 63 81 / 30 50 50 40 .MAF... TX...NONE. NM...NONE. SN
NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-251000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 230 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT MUCH OF WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO TONIGHT. A FEW STORMS COULD APPROACH SEVERE LEVELS... GENERALLY NORTHEAST OF A SEMINOLE TO GARDEN CITY LINE...WITH MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT. LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE DUE TO SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS AND ABUNDANT MOISTURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE. GUSTY WINDS TO 40 MPH AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH ANY THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE ACROSS MUCH OF WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO SUNDAY...SUNDAY NIGHT... AND MONDAY. THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN LOW...HOWEVER LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE DUE TO SLOW THUNDERSTORM MOVEMENT AND THE ABUNDANCE OF MOISTURE AVAILABLE IN THE ATMOSPHERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...ADVISORIES...AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN MIDLAND CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT http://www.srh.noaa.gov.
The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 187 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:26 UTC.
11 hail, 10 flash flood, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Several spotter reports were received of large hail along Highway 285. Hail stones ranged in size from quarters to golfballs.
Quarter size hail covered the ground in Ira.
Very heavy rain combined with ice blockage from hail resulted in flash flooding of a construction site along Highway 285 south of Fort Stockton.
Quarter size hail covered the ground.
The Big Spring Police Department and storm spotters reported several main city streets in Big Spring under water due to flash flooding. Water was reported to be a few feet deep on the Interstate 20 service roads with several cars stalled. No injuries were reported.
A spotter reported very heavy rainfall resulting in flash flooding on most city streets in Stanton.
A spotter reported penny size hail along Highway 208 north of Snyder.
A spotter reported penny size hail one mile south of the intersection of Interstate 20 and Highway 349.
Storm spotters reported flash flooding in parts of the county including high water over Highway 158 near the county line, and south of Garden City on Farm to Market Road 33.
Spotters reported flash flooding resulting in high water over Farm to Market Road 1379 and Highway 158 south of Spraberry and east to the county line.
Storm spotters reported high water resulting from flash flooding over Interstate 20 west of Colorado City.
Penny size hail was reported at Schlemeyer Airport in Odessa
Local law enforcement reported high water over the intersection of County Road 8000 and Highway 385 as a result of flash flooding.
A significant flash flood event which resulted in the death of a local teenage girl impacted the city of Odessa during the evening hours of the 24th. Numerous reports of flash flooding, including water in homes and stalled vehicles were received. Several swift water rescues were conducted by the Odessa Fire Department across the city. An 18 year old female was killed when she was swept away by raging flood waters while trying to evacuate her stalled pickup truck. Two passengers were successfully rescued from that particular vehicle. High water resulted in dangerous conditions for motorists throughout the city. A few of the most significant reports were received from the area around Ratliff Stadium (where a high school graduation was scheduled to occur) and along University Street.
Flash flooding resulted in high water over Farm to Market Road 1788 east of Andrews.
Flash flooding resulted in high water over a construction zone on Interstate 20. A car encountered the high water and was swept off the highway. The driver had to be rescued, but no injuries were reported.
Lightning was responsible for setting a warehouse on fire in West Odessa. The warehouse was destoryed in the fire. No injuries were reported.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood, Midland | 2003-05-24 | 18 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 2003
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: 5354275, 5353466, 5353473, 5353465, 5353574, 5353475, 5353467, 5353469, 5353474, 5353468, 5353471, 5353470, 5353477, 5353478, 5353476, 5353472, 5353568, 5353569, 5353572, 5353571, 5353570, 5353573.