Slow moving thunderstorms developed along the northern Coastal Bend during the morning hours of the 8th. Training of thunderstorms occurred across much of Aransas and eastern Calhoun counties.
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.
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 episode as NWS CRP wrote it up.
Slow moving thunderstorms developed along the northern Coastal Bend during the morning hours of the 8th. Training of thunderstorms occurred across much of Aransas and eastern Calhoun counties. Extensive flooding occurred throughout the city of Rockport, flooding numerous homes, businesses and vehicles. Below are selected rainfall reports for the event.Station......................................... Amount (inches)Rockport ASOS............................... 7.29Aransas National Wildlife Refuge..... 7.15Aransas RAWS............................... 6.40Matagorda Island RAWS................. 2.69Refugio........................................... 1.52
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 Corpus Christi, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 8, 7:52 AM CST, 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX 852 AM CDT SAT MAY 8 2004 .UPDATED...NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER THE NORTHEASTERN SECTIONS OF THE CWFA ATTM. UPPER LOW IS MOVING SLOWLY EASTWARD WITH TWO LOBES NOTICED ON VAPOR LOOP. ONE LOBE IS NORTH OF CWFA AND ONE IS OVER THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY. HAVE INCREASED POPS OVER THE EASTERN SECTIONS OF THE CWFA AND MENTIONED HEAVY RAINFALL. AT THIS TIME...NO FLOOD WATCH WILL BE ISSUED BUT WILL BE MONITORED. NO CHANGES TO LATER PERIODS. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION BELOW. 86/GW && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION .SHORT-TERM (TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY)...CONCUR WITH THE ETA/GFS WITH RESPECT TO THE SLOW EWD MOVEMENT OF THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS DRG THE PERIOD. THE COMBINATION OF WEAK MID/UPPER Q-VECTOR CONVERGENCE (EAST OF THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS) AND SFC FORCING (ASSOCIATED WITH A WEAK SFC TROUGH) WL RESULT IN A GREATER CHANCE FOR CONVECTION OVR THE ERN CWFA TDA. EXPECT INCREASING MID/UPPER Q-VECTOR DIVERGENCE/SUBSIDENCE TO PRECLUDE ACTIVITY OVR THE CWFA BY SUN AFTN...ALTHOUGH ACTIVITY WL REMAIN PSBL OFFSHORE. DO NOT EXPECT SEA CONDITIONS TO EXCEED SCEC. .LONG-TERM (SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY)...500HPA TROUGH AXIS TRANSLATES ACROSS THE FAR EASTERN CWA SUNDAY NIGHT WITH LINGERING MOISTURE/FORCING SUPPORTING SLIGHT CHANCE POPS. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE SUFFICIENTLY MOIST/UNSTABLE MONDAY/MONDAY NIGHT. FORCING FOR CONVECTION WILL COME VIA ADDITIONAL VORTICITY MAXIMA TRACKING ACROSS THE REGION AND THE SEA BREEZE BOUNDARY. WILL USE CHANCE POPS WITH THE EMPHASIS ON MONDAY NIGHT. WIND SPEEDS WILL BE TEMPERED BY THE PRESENCE OF MESOSCALE BOUNDARIES AND DISTURBANCES ALOFT WITH THE NEARSHORE/OFFSHORE WATERS ONLY ATTAINING SCEC CRITERIA. NO RADICAL DEPARTURES FROM MOS TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE IN THE FIRST THREE PERIODS WHICH IS REASONABLE GIVEN THE LOWER 1000-850HPA THICKNESS AND 850HPA TEMPERATURES. SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL PREVAIL TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. EMBEDDED VORTICITY MAXIMA WILL RIPPLE THROUGH THE FLOW WITH THE MORE SIGNIFICANT MAXIMUM OCCURRING TUESDAY PER MODEL CONSENSUS. BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE/INSTABILITY/FORCING ARE RESPECTABLE THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD WITH UPPER-LEVEL DIFFLUENCE PROVIDING ASCENSION ENHANCEMENT TUESDAY. THE GFS IS AN OUTLIER IN ITS ATTEMPT TO BRING A SURFACE BOUNDARY THROUGH ON FRIDAY. ENSEMBLE SOLUTIONS AND THE ECMWF/CANADIAN MODELS ARE FAVORED IN KEEPING THE BOUNDARY FURTHER NORTH AS THE LONGWAVE TROUGH MAINTAINS A SOUTHERLY FLOW. WILL CONTINUE WITH SLIGHT CHANCE POPS AT THIS JUNCTURE FOR TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY BUT INDICATE CHANCE POPS FOR THE NORTHERN COUNTIES ON TUESDAY. STRONG LOW-LEVEL JET AND THERMAL/PRESSURE GRADIENTS WILL LEAD TO WINDY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE INTERIOR AND SCA CONDITIONS OVER THE WATERS. TEMPERATURES WILL BE AT OR ABOVE CLIMATOLOGY AS THE 1000-850HPA THICKNESS CONTINUES TO INCREASE. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... CORPUS CHRISTI 79 70 82 70 79 / 40 20 00 10 30 VICTORIA 80 68 83 68 82 / 50 30 10 20 30 LAREDO 84 69 87 70 89 / 20 20 00 05 30 ALICE 80 67 86 68 84 / 30 20 00 05 30 ROCKPORT 78 71 81 72 81 / 50 20 10 20 30 COTULLA 82 66 85 68 85 / 30 20 00 05 30 87/SHORT-TERM 85/LONG-TERM
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
The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 14:42 UTC.
3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous roads flooded throughout the county. Law enforcement and media reported road closures in the Port Oconnor and Seadrift communities. See episode narrative below for more information.
Numerous county and farm to market roads flooded across the eastern half of Refugio county, mainly east of U.S. 77. See episode narrative below for more information.
Numerous roads flooded thoughout the county. Extensive flooding occurred in the city of Rockport. An estimated 250-300 homes and businesses experienced flooding in the city of Rockport. Several motorists in stalled vehicles required rescuing. See episode narrative below for more information.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5399816, 5399863, 5399862.