Name: Flash Flooding in Texas, September 2, 2003
Start: 2003-09-02T07:30
End: 2003-09-02T10:00
Location: Texas

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: $15,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 Sep 2, 2:20 AM CST, 5 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 2, 2:20 AM CST, 5 hours 10 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
320 AM CDT TUE SEP 2 2003

ONGOING CONVECTION ACROSS OUR SOUTHERN TIER COUNTIES IS ALONG A
STALLED-OUT BOUNDARY (DEW POINT DISCONTINUITY). THIS WILL BE THE
FOCUS FOR CONVECTION TODAY AND TONIGHT...AS IT CREEPS BACK TO THE
NORTH. THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS PLENTY MOIST WITH PWS RANGING FROM 2.0
ALONG THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY...TO 2.4 INCHES OVER OUT SE COUNTIES.
GIVEN HIGH PWS...ONGOING RAIN...AND PAST 24H RAINFALL...WILL GO
AHEAD AND ISSUE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR OUR SE COUNTIES.

POPS WILL REMAIN IN THE FORECAST...INCREASING FROM NORTH TO SOUTH
ACROSS CWA EWX...UNTIL A REINFORCING SHOT OF DRY (COOLER) AIR LATE
WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. THE BOUNDARY WILL CARRY POPS SOUTH
TOWARD THE COAST ON THU AND THU NIGHT. HIGH CONFIDENCE FORECAST IN
THIS REINFORCING SHOT (COLD FRONT) GIVEN RUN-TO-RUN CONSISTENCY AND
GENERAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ECMWF AND GFS. WILL GO POPLESS FROM
EARLY FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...WITH A DRY SURFACE RIDGE IN PLACE.
TEMPERATURES WILL GENERALLY BE AT OR BELOW NORMAL FOR THE NEXT 7
DAYS.

11/01

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
AUS 86/70/87/69/88 33322
DRT 88/71/89/72/89 22222
SAT 87/72/88/72/87 54322

EWX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TXZ209-TXZ220>225 THROUGH TODAY.

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 2, 4:25 AM CST, 3 hours 5 minutes before

TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-031030-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
525 AM CDT TUE SEP 2 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ARE
POSSIBLE OVER THE AREA TODAY. THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN WILL
BE MAINLY OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN SECTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...
WHERE A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXISTS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Atascosa

When: September 2, 7:30 AM CST to 9:00 AM CST
Where: Atascosa County, South Portion
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 28.894, -98.527 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Following showers that fell generally across South Central Texas on September 1, additional storms developed on the morning of September 2 from Charlotte to Campbellton to Fashing. Rainfall over the southern part of Atascosa County varied from 1 to 2 inches, with isolated totals to near 4 inches. Damage was limited to roads near low water crossings.

Flash Flood, Lavaca

When: September 2, 8:00 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
Where: Lavaca County, North Portion
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.384, -96.930 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall on September 1 had already saturated the soils over Lavaca and DeWitt Counties. Widespread showers and thunderstorms redeveloped on the morning of September 2, producing an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain, with isolated totals to 4 inches, across the northen parts of DeWitt and Lavaca Counties north of a line from Yorktown to Cuero to Yoakum to Shiner to Hallettsville. Damage was limited to roads near low water crossings.

Flash Flood, De Witt

When: September 2, 8:15 AM CST to 9:45 AM CST
Where: De Witt County, North Portion
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.082, -97.357 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall on September 1 had already saturated the soils over Lavaca and DeWitt Counties. Widespread showers and thunderstorms redeveloped on the morning of September 2, producing an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain, with isolated totals to 4 inches, across the northen parts of DeWitt and Lavaca Counties north of a line from Yorktown to Cuero to Yoakum to Shiner to Hallettsville. Damage was limited to roads near low water crossings.

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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5336868, 5336869, 5336870.