Flash Flood, Jefferson
- When
- September 12, 7:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Jefferson County, Countywide
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 29.854, -94.153 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flooding in Texas, September 12, 2003
As much as six to seven inches of rain fell in less than six hours, resulting in flooding of area roads in Jefferson and Orange Counties. Bridge City and Vidor were among the locations in Orange County where roads were closed off due to floodwaters.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 happened
The episode as NWS LCH wrote it up.
As much as six to seven inches of rain fell in less than six hours, resulting in flooding of area roads in Jefferson and Orange Counties. Bridge City and Vidor were among the locations in Orange County where roads were closed off due to floodwaters.
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 Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 12, 3:18 AM CST, 3 hours 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 12, 3:18 AM CST, 3 hours 42 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 355 AM CDT FRI 12 SEP 2003 AT MID AND UPPER LEVELS...RIDGE AXIS MOVING EAST OF THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING WILL ALLOW A SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT AS A STRONG SHORTWAVE MOVES TOWARD CENTRAL TEXAS. BY EVENING LOW CENTER WILL BE OVER CENTRAL TEXAS. TONIGHT THE LOW/TROUGH WILL MOVE INTO EASTERN TEXAS. LOW IS PROGGED TO MOVE ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA SATURDAY AS A BROAD TROUGH FORMS IN ITS WAKE ACROSS TEXAS. TROUGH WILL PERSIST OVER TEXAS SUNDAY CONTINUING A SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW OVER OUR AREA. TROUGH IS PROGGED TO BROADEN OVER THE CENTRAL U. S. SUNDAY NIGHT AS A SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVES EAST ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN PLAINS TO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY. WEAK RIDGING WILL FINALLY DEVELOP MONDAY. WITH THE RIDGE AXIS MOVING TO THE EAST AND THE LOW/TROUGH APPROACHING THERE SHOULD BE PLENTY OF INSTABILITY TODAY AND SATURDAY...MORE TONIGHT...DIMINISHING SATURDAY NIGHT. MORE STABLE CONDITIONS WILL RETURN SUNDAY. CONDITIONS ARE QUITE MOIST ACROSS THE AREA. YESTERDAYS LAKE CHARLES SOUNDING SHOWED 2.12 INCHES OF PRECIPITABLE WATER. DEEP MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE OVER THE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT...DIMINISH OVER THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN PARTS OF THE REGION SATURDAY NIGHT. DRIER CONDITIONS WILL RETURN TO THE AREA SUNDAY. THE SURFACE FRONT NORTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST ACROSS NORTHEAST TEXAS THIS MORNING WILL LIKELY HANG UP OVER EASTERN TEXAS TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. PROGS INDICATE FRONT WILL NOT MOVE THROUGH THE LOCAL AREA...OR MAY DISSIPATE OVER THE LOCAL AREA...UNTIL MONDAY. WITH MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY HIGH...CHANCES OF RAIN WILL BE NEAR 100 PERCENT AREA WIDE TODAY. RAIN WILL BE LIKELY MOST OF THE AREA TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY. CHANCES OF RAIN WILL TAPER OFF SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. WILL ISSUE A FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT. .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... KLCH 86 73 86 73 / 99 99 80 30 KBPT 86 73 86 73 / 99 99 80 20 KAEX 85 72 86 72 / 99 99 80 30 KLFT 87 73 86 73 / 99 80 80 40 .LCH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...FLOOD WATCH LAZ027-028-030-031-032-041-042-051 TODAY AND TONIGHT. TX...FLOOD WATCH TXZ180-181-182-201-215-216 TODAY AND TONIGHT. LCH...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY GMZ450-470. 20
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Sep 12, 2:20 AM CST, 4 hours 40 minutes before
GMZ450-455-470-475-LAZ041>045-051>055-TXZ201-215-216-122100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 320 AM CDT FRI SEP 12 2003 ...FUNNEL CLOUDS AND WATERSPOUTS POSSIBLE TODAY... A MOIST TROPICAL AIRMASS AND RELATIVELY WEAK WINDS IN THE LOW TO MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE ARE IN PLACE ACROSS THE AREA. UNDER THESE CONDITIONS...SHORT-LIVED FUNNEL CLOUDS AND WATERSPOUTS WILL BE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY DURING THE MORNING INTO THE MID AFTERNOON HOURS...ALONG THE COASTAL COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND THE COASTAL PARISHES OF SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. OFTEN...FUNNEL CLOUDS AND WATERSPOUTS FORM UNDER RAPIDLY DEVELOPING CUMULUS CLOUDS WHERE SEABREEZE AND RAIN COOLED BOUNDARIES...KNOWN AS OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES...COLLIDE. THESE FUNNEL CLOUDS CAN CAUSE DAMAGE IF THEY TOUCH DOWN. ALSO... WATERSPOUTS POSE A SERIOUS THREAT TO MARINERS AND CAN CAPSIZE A SMALL CRAFT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO..COMMERCIAL TELEVISION OR RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS. ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE OBTAINED THROUGH OUR HOME PAGE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/LCH. MCNATT
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Orange
- When
- September 12, 7:00 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Orange County, Countywide
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 30.121, -93.894 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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
- Flash Flood in Puerto Rico, September 12, 2003
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Gulf of Mexico, September 12, 2003
- Flash Flooding in Texas, September 12 to 14, 2003
- Tornado in Illinois, September 12, 2003
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Gulf of Mexico, September 12, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Texas, September 12, 2003
- Wildfire in Oregon, September 12 to 14, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Texas, September 12, 2003
- Flood in Alaska, September 12 to 13, 2003
- Frost and Freeze in Colorado, September 12, 2003
- Waterspout in Gulf of Mexico, September 12, 2003
- Waterspout in Gulf of Mexico, September 12, 2003
More
Every storm in Texas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, September 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: 5375098, 5375099.