Flash Flood in Texas, May 27, 2003

Name: Flash Flood in Texas, May 27, 2003
Start: 2003-05-27T08:30
End: 2003-05-27T17:00
Location: Texas

May 27, 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: $80,000
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 May 27, 1:10 AM CST, 7 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 27, 1:10 AM CST, 7 hours 20 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
210 AM CDT TUE MAY 27 2003

SCT TSRA OVER EDWARDS AND REAL COUNTIES EARLY THIS MORNING...
OTHERWISE MOSTLY CLOUDY ACROSS SCNTRL TX. THE MAIN FORECAST ISSUES
ARE POPS TODAY THROUGH WED...TEMPS THU-SAT...THEN POPS SUN-MON. THE
00Z NCEP MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT...SO WILL STICK CLOSE TO GFS
FOR LONGER RUN TIME AND BLENDING INTO THE EXTENDED FORECAST...BUT
BLEND FWC/MAV TEMPS ADD POPS THROUGH 48 HR.

WEAK UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE AND WEAK SATURATED LIFT ON THE I300K SFC
SEEM TO BE DRIVING THE CURRENT CONVECTION OVER EDWARDS AND REAL
COUNTIES. MODEL PROGS INDICATE SATURATED LIFT WILL REMAIN WEAK TO
NEUTRAL AND MAINLY OVER THE SWRN HALF OF THE AREA THROUGH LATE
AFTERNOON. DRIER AIR WILL CONTINUE TO FILTER INTO THE REGION...
EVENTUALLY SHUTTING OFF ALL POPS FOR THU-SAT. WILL BRING BACK SLIGHT
CHANCE POPS SUN FOR NEXT FROPA...ALTHOUGH WILL KEEP MON DRY FOR NOW.

.EWX...NONE.

26/08

PRELIMS...
AUS EB 084/062 086/062 090 3-0
DRT TE 082/066 087/067 093 530
SAT EB 084/064 086/065 091 320

Hazardous weather outlook, May 27, 4:30 AM CST, 4 hours before

TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-281100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
530 AM CDT TUE MAY 27 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.  CHANCE OF
RAIN TODAY FROM SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS...ASSOCIATED WITH A WEAK
UPPER AIR DISTURBANCE TO THE WEST AND SOUTHWEST...AND IN WAKE OF A
LATE MAY COOL FRONT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.  THERE IS A CHANCE
OF RAIN WEDNESDAY OVER WEST PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS NEAR THE
RIO GRANDE RIVER.  ON SUNDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF RAIN FOR THE
AREA...ASSOCIATED WITH AN EARLY JUNE WEATHER SYSTEM ALOFT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

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: May 27, 8:30 AM CST to 5:00 PM CST
Where: Val Verde County, South Portion
Property damage: $80,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 29.893, -101.152 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rain began falling over southern Val Verde County early on the morning of May 27. The rain continued through the morning, with reports from the city of Del Rio of accumulations approaching 6 inches by 8 am CST. An additional 2.5 inches of rain fell over the Del Rio area between 8 am and 2 pm. As a result of the rainfall, county roads flooded across the southern third of the county. Some of the worst flooding occurred in and around the city of Del Rio, where 11 people were evacuated to shelter at the Civic Center as water threatened to enter their homes. Many students were unable to get to their schools that morning. Others who had reached their schools were dismissed early as soon as a temporary break in the heavy rainfall occurred. Law enforcement officials guarded the most dangerous low water crossings through the morning and mid afternoon. This rainfall set a record for the month of May.

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, May 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: 5353718.