7 tornado, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 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 Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 9, 1:30 AM CST, 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 230 AM CDT THU OCT 9 2003 LOOKS AS IF IT WILL BE A SOGGY DAY ACROSS MOST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY. ABUNDANT LOW TO MID LEVEL MOISTURE...AS NOTED ON THE 00Z CORPUS CHRISTI SOUNDING...IS MOVING ACROSS SOUTH TEXAS. THE LAKE CHARLES SOUNDING WAS NOT QUITE AS MOIST...SO OUR AREA IS LIKELY SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN THE TWO. RADAR LOOPS HAVE SHOWN BANDS OF SHOWERS MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHWESTERN ZONES...BUT DIE BEFORE MOVING TOO FAR INTO OUR ZONES. THESE WAVES OF SHOWERS APPEAR TO BE MAKING IT A LITTLE FARTHER NORTHEAST EACH TIME...SUGGESTING THE LOW TO MID LEVELS ARE MOISTENING UP SOMEWHAT. EARLY MORNING WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW JUST OFF THE BAJA SPUR. THIS SHOULD KEEP THE INFLUX OF PACIFIC MOISTURE ACROSS SOUTH TEXAS AT LEAST THROUGH TODAY. THE COMBINATION OF THE PACIFIC AND GULF MOISTURE ALL POINT TO THE POTENTIAL FOR A LOT OF RAIN DURING THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS. THE OPERATIONAL MODELS SUGGEST A SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL MOVE DOWN THE FRONT SIDE OF THE MID LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE SOUTH CENTRAL U.S. THIS FEATURE WILL SERVE AS A FOCUSING MECHANISM FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE DAY TODAY. ITS PATH WILL DICTATE HOW MUCH RAIN FALLS AND WHERE. ALL THE NUMERICAL GUIDANCE HAVE POP VALUES AT OR ABOVE 80 PERCENT TODAY FOR ALL LOCATIONS. WILL PROBABLY KEEP THE HIGHER POPS IN THE NORTH...CLOSER TO THE UPPER DYNAMICS...AND LOWER THE POPS SLIGHTLY FARTHER SOUTH. THE AMOUNT OF CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION WILL CAUSE HAVOC ON TEMPERATURE FORECASTS TODAY. WILL LIKELY KEEP READINGS IN THE UPPER 70S TO LOW 80S AREA WIDE. COOLER TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE NORTH WHERE GREATER RAINFALL IS EXPECTED. DRIER AIR WILL WORK ITS WAY ACROSS THE REGION ON FRIDAY IN THE WAKE OF THE PRECIPITATION. THE NUMERICAL GUIDANCE IS SUGGESTING CLEAR TO PARTLY CLOUDY CONDITIONS...BUT THE FORECAST WILL LIKELY BE PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF MOISTURE THAT WILL HAVE WORKED INTO THE AREA TODAY. ANOTHER COLD FRONT IS FORECAST TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. THERE LIKELY WILL NOT BE ENOUGH LOW LEVEL MOISTENING TO GET MORE THAN AN ISOLATED SHOWER OR TWO WITH THE FRONT. TEMPERATURES WILL MODERATE THROUGH THE FIRST PART OF THE WEEK...LIKELY REACHING CLIMATOLOGICAL MEANS BY THE FIRST OF THE WEEK. 46/40 .HGX...NONE. CLL TE 079/068 080/064 083 +5- IAH TE 078/070 082/064 083 85- GLS TE 081/073 080/072 081 85-
GMZ330-335-350-355-370-375-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227- 235>238-091200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 615 AM CDT WED OCT 8 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. PATCHY DENSE FOG WILL BEGIN TO BURN OFF SHORTLY AFTER SUNRISE THIS MORNING. OTHERWISE...HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 tornado, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado caused damage to trees and to a storefront window near the intersection of Fairmont and Broadway Avenues. Originated as a waterspout over Galveston Bay.
Tornado touched down along the Highway 59 and Highway 90 intersection. Several buildings were damaged, minor roof damage to a home. Sky windows were broken out of a day-care facility.
Tornado downed power lines across Highway 90.
Tornado caused roof damage to apartment complex at Blackhawk and FM 528. Minor damage to local businesses.
Roof damage along with two uprooted gas pumps at convenience store.
Tornado caused damage to a barn.
Tornado touch down at intersection of FM 521 and CR 58. No reported damage.
Flooding over County Road 190, west of Highway 146, forced its closure. Subdivision along Highway 6 in Manvel experienced flooding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2003Warnings in Texas, October 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: 5372091, 5372092, 5372093, 5372094, 5372095, 5372096, 5372097, 5372098.