5 flash flood, 3 tornado, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 May 1, 5:31 AM CST, 2 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 631 AM CDT SAT MAY 1 2004 .DISCUSSION... HAVE UPDATED THE ZONES TO CALL FOR FALLING TEMPERATURES AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE. WILL UPDATE THE GRIDS SHORTLY. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF OUR COUNTY WARNING AREA CONTINUE TO SHOW WEAK ROTATION. NO SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM ANY OF THESE STORMS YET. WILL LIKELY DO ANOTHER UPDATE LATER THIS MORNING TO DO SOME MORE ZONE CLEANING. 42/46 && .HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TORNADO WATCH ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 10 AM. FLOOD WATCH ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS THROUGH 6 PM. SCA ALL WATERS THIS MORNING. SCEC ALL WATERS THIS AFTERNOON. && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION (358 AM CDT)... STARTING TO GET BUSY ACROSS OUR COUNTY WARNING AREA. SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE CONTINUES TO INCREASE ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT AND UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM TO THE WEST. EXPECT SOUTHEAST TEXAS AIRMASS TO CONTINUE TO DESTABILIZE THIS MORNING AS THE SYSTEMS EDGE EASTWARD. THERE WILL BE A SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY RAINFALL THREAT FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY. A TORNADO WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 10 AM. KHGX VWP SHOWS SOME DIRECTIONAL SHEAR...AND SOME OF THE CELLS MOVING NORTH THROUGH HARRIS COUNTY HAVE BEEN SHOWING SOME WEAK ROTATION. THE VIL OF THE DAY IS PROBABLY IN A 65 TO 70 RANGE. WILL ISSUE A FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS THROUGH 6 PM TONIGHT. EXPECT WIDESPREAD 1 TO 2 INCH RAINFALL TOTALS WITH ISOLATED 3 TO 4 INCH AMOUNTS BEFORE THE EVENT COMES TO A CLOSE LATER TONIGHT WITH THE PASSAGE OF A COLD FRONT. AHEAD OF THE FRONT...INSTABILITY WILL BE HIGH WITH EXCELLENT LIFT AND HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES (BETWEEN 1.5 AND 2.0 INCHES). EXPECT RAPID DRYING BEHIND THE FRONT WITH A GRADUAL DECREASE IN CLOUD COVER. WILL CALL FOR PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES SUNDAY THROUGH THE UPCOMING WEEK. WILL SEE COOLER MORNING TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES OVERHEAD. A GRADUAL WARMUP WILL OCCUR DURING THE WEEK AS THE HIGH MOVES OFF TO THE EAST AND A RETURN FLOW SETS UP. GOTTA GO 42/46 && .PREVIOUS PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POP... COLLEGE STATION (CLL) 72 52 75 50 79 / 80 30 00 00 00 HOUSTON (IAH) 76 56 75 50 79 / 80 60 00 00 00 GALVESTON (GLS) 75 61 74 60 78 / 80 70 10 00 00 &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 513 AM CDT SAT MAY 1 2004 TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-021200- AUSTIN-BRAZORIA-BRAZOS-BURLESON-CHAMBERS-COLORADO-FORT BEND-GALVESTON- GRIMES-HARRIS-HOUSTON-JACKSON-LIBERTY-MADISON-MATAGORDA-MONTGOMERY- POLK-SAN JACINTO-TRINITY-WALKER-WALLER-WASHINGTON-WHARTON- 513 AM CDT SAT MAY 1 2004 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY... .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL SWEEP THROUGH SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT. STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL BE STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES WITH ISOLATED 3 TO 4 INCH TOTALS WILL BE POSSIBLE. THE ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO MOVE OFF TO THE EAST THIS EVENING ENDING THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL THREAT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 355 AM CDT SAT MAY 1 2004 TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-011500- AUSTIN-BRAZORIA-BRAZOS-BURLESON-CHAMBERS-COLORADO-FORT BEND-GALVESTON- GRIMES-HARRIS-HOUSTON-JACKSON-LIBERTY-MADISON-MATAGORDA-MONTGOMERY- POLK-SAN JACINTO-TRINITY-WALKER-WALLER-WASHINGTON-WHARTON- 355 AM CDT SAT MAY 1 2004 ...TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS... THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS THROUGH 10 AM. A WARM AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS IS IN PLACE OVER THE AREA...ALLOWING THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OVER THE COASTAL WATERS AND ADJACENT LAND AREAS. WIND FIELDS ARE FAVORABLE FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS. STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATION...NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/HGX FOR MORE INFORMATION.
The Houston radar (KHGX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:45 UTC.
5 flash flood, 3 tornado, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
F1 tornado near Highway 149 and Graham Street caused significant townhouse roof damage. A bank and a grocery store were also damaged and a car was overturned at a local dealership. Trees were also downed.
Trained spotter estimated a 52 knot wind gust with no damage at FM 1960 and I-45.
F0 tornado spotted on the south end of the runway at the airport.
Three funnel clouds observed; one on the south runway and the two others a few miles east of the airport in the Kuykendahl Road area.
75 to 100 Livingston homes and businesses damaged from flooding at FM 146 and US 59; northbound and southbound lanes of US 59 closed.
Three foot diameter trees snapped and flag poles bent on the west side of Lake Houston 5 miles south southeast of Kingwood.
F0 tornado in Crosby from pilot report.
Southbound feeder of I-45 flooded at West Gulfbank; flooding also observed in and around Memorial Village and Pasadena.
I-45 northbound feeder roads flooded and impassable.
50 knot wind gust downed some tree branches.
Numerous small roads including Dabney Bottom, Tony Tap and River Creek closed due to flooding.
Homes flooded in the Crystal Lake Subdivision.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2004Warnings in Texas, May 2004
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: 5404777, 5404779, 5404778, 5404780, 5404776, 5404781, 5404782, 5404774, 5404775, 5404783, 5403450, 5403449.