3 flash flood, 2 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Nov 17, 9:14 AM CST, 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 914 AM CST WED NOV 17 2004 .DISCUSSION... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL FROM GALVESTON ISLAND TO LEAGUE CITY TO THE EASTERN HALF OF HARRIS COUNTY. HARRIS COUNTY RAIN GAUGE DATA IS INDICATING RAINFALL RATES AVERAGING AROUND 2 INCHES PER HOUR IN THE STRONGEST STORMS...BUT THE STORMS ARE QUICKLY MOVING NORTHWARD WHICH IS RESULTING IN ONLY SOME VERY MINOR STREET FLOODING. WILL CONTINUE TO CLOSELY MONITOR. SIGNIFICANT CLOUD BREAKS ACROSS OUR SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST COUNTIES WILL LEAD TO ADDITIONAL STORM DEVELOPMENT THIS MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THAT AREA...AND THAT ACTIVITY WILL MOVE NORTHWARD ACROSS OUR ENTIRE COUNTY WARNING AREA. CURRENT FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT. CANNOT RULE OUT THE THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY WITH VERY GOOD CONVERGENCE PERSISTING AND INCREASING SHEAR WITH THE APPROACH OF THE UPPER LOW. 42 && .MARINE... WILL KEEP THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UP FOR THE 00-60 NM WATERS BASED ON THE CURRENT 6 TO 9 FOOT SEAS. WINDS HAVE BEEN UNDER CAUTION CRITERIA IN GALVESTON AND MATAGORDA BAY AREAS THIS AM BUT WITH APPROACHING TROUGH AND NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS FEEL CAUTION FLAG STILL WARRANTED. AFTER UPPER TROUGH PASSES TONIGHT THE GRADIENT WILL RELAX WITH WINDS AND SEAS BECOMING BENIGN. NEXT FRONT ON TRACK FOR LATE SUNDAY OR MONDAY. 30 && .AVIATION... BANDS OF CONVECTION WILL PLAGUE THE TERMINALS INTO THIS EVENING AS UPPER SYSTEM APPROACHES. WHILE MOSTLY HEAVY RAINERS BRINING IFR VSBY AND CIGS...SOME SPIN OCCASIONALLY INDICATED IN RADAR VELOCITY DATA SO WONT RULE OUT ISOLATED SEVERE. IN BETWEEN THE RAIN BANDS MAY HAVE SOME VFR BREAKS BUT NOT LONG LIVED. LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY THURSDAY EXPECT WIDESPREAD IFR DUE TO LIGHT WINDS AND RADIATIONAL COOLING OVER WET GROUNDS LEADING TO FOG. 30 && .HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SE TX THROUGH MIDNIGHT. SCA 00 TO 60 NM WATERS. SCEC BAYS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... COLLEGE STATION (CLL) 72 61 74 59 74 / 100 60 20 10 10 HOUSTON (IAH) 74 64 76 60 76 / 100 60 40 10 10 GALVESTON (GLS) 75 67 76 65 76 / 100 80 40 10 10 &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 700 AM CST WED NOV 17 2004 TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-181300- 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- 700 AM CST WED NOV 17 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS. ...A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS THROUGH MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT... .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. AN UPPER LOW WILL MOVE ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN TEXAS TODAY. AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM...WIDESPREAD RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT SOUTHEAST TEXAS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT...AND 2 TO 4 INCHES OF RAINFALL CAN BE EXPECTED OVER MOST LOCATIONS. ISOLATED AMOUNTS APPROACHING 8 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE WHERE TRAINING OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCUR. THERE IS ALSO AN ISOLATED THREAT FOR TORNADOES. THESE WILL BE POSSIBLE EARLY THIS MORNING ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 10 ACROSS THE COASTAL COUNTIES AND THOSE COMMUNITIES NEAR GALVESTON BAY. LATER THIS MORNING...ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE AS THE MAIN UPPER LOW CENTER MOVES CLOSER TO SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THIS THREAT IS EXPECTED TO LAST INTO THE MID AFTERNOON PERIOD. HIGH TIDE LEVELS EARLY THIS MORNING MAY GENERATE SOME MINOR COASTAL FLOODING...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE WESTERN SHORE OF GALVESTON BAY AND THE NORTHERN FACING SHORES OF GALVESTON ISLAND AND THE BOLIVAR PENINSULA. WITH HIGH TIDE OCCURRING JUST BEFORE SUNRISE...THESE TIDE LEVELS WILL RELAX THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THE DAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT.
The Houston radar (KHGX), 28 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:38 UTC.
3 flash flood, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Minor roof and siding damage, fences and tree limbs down along Driftwood and Fairmont Streets. Several billboards along Fairmont Parkway were damaged.
Minor roof damage to Tomball Middle School and one nearby home. Several large trees uprooted at Hirsch and Turnervine Roads.
FM 222 and Spring Road flooded and impassable.
Highway 350 exiting Moscow flooded and impassable.
Many impassable roads in and around Cleveland.
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, November 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: 5425500, 5425501, 5425504, 5425503, 5425502.