Name: Flash Flood in Texas, September 23, 2004
Start: 2004-09-23T03:30
End: 2004-09-23T06:30
Location: Texas

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 23, 2:09 AM CST, 1 hour 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 23, 2:09 AM CST, 1 hour 21 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
309 AM CDT THU SEP 23 2004

.DISCUSSION...
TWO KEY WORDS FOR THIS FORECAST PACKAGE ARE WET...AND COMPLICATED.
PLUME OF TROPICAL TAP FROM WRN MEX COAST HAS SLIPPED EWD INTO WRN
COUNTIES AS STRONG MID/UPPER TROF IN CO TRACKS EWD.  S/WV UNDER THIS
TROF NEAR HOB-P07 CONTINUES TO FORM STORMS IN THAT TROPICAL PLUME.
THEY WILL CONTINUE BUILDING TO THE SOUTH AND TRACKING NWD THRU THE
MID-MORNING. CENTRAL COUNTIES REMAIN QUIET...CAUGHT BETWEEN WRN
MOISTURE AND LOW LEVEL FLOW OF TROPICAL MOISTURE FROM WRN GULF ONTO
MID COAST. FURTHER EAST...NEAR 91W...LIES T.S. IVAN...MOVING NW.
MOISTURE IS PLENTIFUL EVERYWHERE TODAY...PW VALUES ARE 1.8-2.0...BUT
THE BEST LIFTING WILL BE JUST AHEAD OF S/WV IN THE WEST AND WITH
THE SEABREEZE/ONSHORE FLOW OVER THE SOUTHEAST COUNTIES. STORMS WILL
CONTINUE INTO AT LEAST THE EARLY EVENING BEFORE DISSIPATING.

IVAN EXPECTED TO REACH THE UPPER TX COAST THIS EVENING...DISTANT
ENOUGH TO CAUSE MORE DRYING THAN RAIN-MAKING FOR SC TX ON FRI. IT
WILL HELP DRAW THE COLD FRONT IN CO SEWD ACROSS TX AND INTO SC TX BY
FRI AFTN. NORTH SFC WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT...ALSO THANKS TO IVAN...
WILL DECREASE THE TEMPERATURE CONTRAST ALONG THE FRONT.  THIS SHOULD
WEAKEN ITS LIFT AND ABILITY TO PRODUCE SHOWERS.

GFS80...AGAIN THE PREFERRED MODEL...INDICATES RAINY SAT AND SUN
INTO MON AS MOISTURE FROM IVAN MIXES WITH THE WESTERN PLUME IN
ADVANCE OF A SECOND MID/UPPER TROF APPROACHING THE AREA ON SUN.

FINALLY ON TUE THE RAIN EVENT COMES TO A CLOSE.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
AUSTIN CAMP MABRY              90  68  85  69 /  20  20  30  20
AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTL AIRPORT  89  67  85  67 /  20  20  30  20
DEL RIO INTL AIRPORT           88  70  88  67 /  40  20  20  20
SAN ANTONIO INTL AIRPORT       88  69  86  66 /  20  20  30  20

&&

.EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.

&&

09/08

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Val Verde

When: September 23, 3:30 AM CST to 6:30 AM CST
Where: Val Verde County, Northeast Portion
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.893, -101.152 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorms moving very slowly across the northeast portion of Val Verde County dropped between 2 and 3 inches northeast of a line from Juno to Loma Alta. The heaviest rainfall reported was near 6 inches just north of Juno at the intersections of SH163 and FM189. Numerous low water crossings were reported under water through the early morning hours.

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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, September 2004

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: 5424919.