Flash Flooding in Texas, September 5, 2003

Name: Flash Flooding in Texas, September 5, 2003
Start: 2003-09-05T12:30
End: 2003-09-05T17:00
Location: Texas

September 5, 2003 · NWS EWX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

4 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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: $130,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 5, 9:00 AM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 5, 9:00 AM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
10 AM CDT FRI SEP 5 2003

CURRENT WEATHER ANALYSIS...TRENDS AND OUTLOOK...
SURFACE ANALYSIS HAS HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE DOMINATING THE WEATHER FOR
THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST WARNING AREA.
STATION WASHOUT COOL FRONT OVER THE REGION CONTINUE TO PROVIDE
THE FOCUS FOR THE ONGOING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.

LOOK FOR DRIER AIR TO SLOWLY FILTER INTO THE REGION THROUGH TODAY AND
INTO TONIGHT WITH DECREASING CLOUDINESS AND THE CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION ALSO DECREASING.

THE 4AM FORECAST PACKAGE LOOK GOOD AND SEE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
OR UPDATES NEEDED AT THE TIME.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...
00Z SOUNDINGS STILL INDICATED AN UNCAPPED AIRMASS WITH PRECIP WATER
VALUES AROUND 2 INCHES. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ONGOING
NORTH AND EAST OF THE CWFA IS A GOOD INDICATION OF CURRENT
INSTABILITY. A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE SOUTH ACROSS
THE CWFA TODAY WHICH...WITH THE ADDITION OF DAYTIME HEATING...WILL
ONCE AGAIN GENERATE ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
THE CONVECTION WILL PEAK IN AREAL COVERAGE AND INTENSITY LATE IN
THE AFTERNOON. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS STILL POSSIBLE TODAY AND
THIS EVENING.

ETA AND GFS X-SECTIONS DEPICT THE AIRMASS DRYING OUT ABOVE 850MB
OVER THE WEEKEND. THIS DRYING TREND WILL INHIBIT PCPN OVER THE
WEEKEND THRU EARLY NEXT WEEK. A WEAK SURFACE RIDGE WILL BUILD
SOUTHWARD INTO TEXAS OVER THE WEEKEND BRINGING LOWER SFC DEWPOINTS
TO THE CWFA. THIS WILL RESULT IN COOLER MORNINGS FOLLOWED BY
WARM...BUT LESS HUMID AFTERNOONS. GULF MOISTURE MAKES A COMEBACK ON
MONDAY AS THE SFC RIDGE MOVE EASTWARD. GULF RETURN FLOW PATTERN WILL
PERSIST NEXT WEEK WITH PCPN CONFINED MAINLY TO THE COAST. A FEW
SHOWERS MAY WORK INLAND INTO THE SOUTHEAST COUNTIES BY
THURSDAY.

.EWX...NONE.

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:29 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Bexar

When: September 5, 12:30 PM CST to 2:30 PM CST
Where: Bexar County, Countywide
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.449, -98.520 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

After several days of widespread general showers, soils were generally saturated across South Central Texas. On September 5, additional rainfall developed from the southern part of Bandera County across the Bexar and Atascosa Counties and into the western part of Wilson County. Repeated showers and thunderstorms produced general rainfall over Bexar County of 1 to 2 inches, with isolated totals of up to 4 inches. San Antonio reported numerous road closures and high water rescues from vehicles. Damage was limited to roads, bridges, and vehicles.

Flash Flood, Bandera

When: September 5, 2:00 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
Where: Bandera County, South Portion
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.747, -99.246 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

After several days of widespread general showers, soils were generally saturated across South Central Texas. On September 5, additional rainfall developed from the southern part of Bandera County across the Bexar and Atascosa Counties and into the western part of Wilson County. Repeated showers and thunderstorms produced general rainfall of 1 to 2 inches over the southern part of the county, with isolated totals of up to 4 inches in the southwest part. Damage was limited to roads and bridges.

Flash Flood, Atascosa

When: September 5, 3:00 PM CST to 5:00 PM CST
Where: Atascosa County, Countywide
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 28.894, -98.527 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

After several days of widespread general showers, soils were generally saturated across South Central Texas. On September 5, additional rainfall developed from the southern part of Bandera County across the Bexar and Atascosa Counties and into the western part of Wilson County. Repeated showers and thunderstorms produced general rainfall over county of around 1 inch, with isolated totals of up to 4 inches in the south part of the county. Damage was limited to roads and bridges.

Flash Flood, Wilson

When: September 5, 3:30 PM CST to 5:00 PM CST
Where: Wilson County, West Portion
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.174, -98.087 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

After several days of widespread general showers, soils were generally saturated across South Central Texas. On September 5, additional rainfall developed from the southern part of Bandera County across the Bexar and Atascosa Counties and into the western part of Wilson County. Repeated showers and thunderstorms produced general rainfall around 1 inch in the western part of the county, with isolated totals of up to 4 inches. Damage was limited to roads and bridges.

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, 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: 5336954, 5336955, 5336956, 5337039.