A weak cold front sagged slowly southward during the day and became a focus for strong to severe afternoon thunderstorm development.
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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 HGX wrote it up.
A weak cold front sagged slowly southward during the day and became a focus for strong to severe afternoon thunderstorm development.
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 Aug 14, 11:48 AM CST, 2 hours 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1248 PM CDT WED AUG 14 2013 .DISCUSSION... SEE THE 18Z AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW. 40 && .AVIATION... A WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARY WAS SINKING SOUTHWARD ACROSS SE TX AT MIDDAY...AND APPEARED TO BE NEAR OR PAST KUTS AT 1730Z. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE FRONT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH THE MODELS INDICATING THE BEST TIME FRAME FOR THUNDERSTORMS FROM 22Z TO 02Z FOR MOST LOCATIONS. STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS. THE GFS WAS THEN TAKING A SHORTWAVE TROUGH ALOFT FROM WEST TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON INTO SE TX OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. THE MODEL DEVELOPS THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE HOUSTON METRO AREA AND SOUTHWARD FROM ABOUT 06Z TO 12Z. THERE MAY BE A PERIOD OF MVFR OR LOWER AT TIMES ALONG WITH THE THUNDER THREAT. IF LOWER CONDITIONS DO DEVELOP...VFR SHOULD THEN DEVELOP BY THE MID MORNING ON THURSDAY. SOME SHOWERS MAY ALSO LINGER ALONG THE COAST AFTER 14Z. 40 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1100 AM CDT WED AUG 14 2013/ DISCUSSION... WENT AHEAD AND NUDGED POPS UP A TOUCH FOR TONIGHT AS WELL. QUICK GLANCE OF INCOMING 12Z DATA SHOWS POTENTIAL FOR SOME TYPE OF CONVECTIVE SYSTEM DEVELOPING ALONG THE FRONT. FIRST THOUGHT EARLIER IT WAS A FEEDBACK ISSUE...BUT A LITTLE CONCERNED THAT GFS/NAM12/ECMWF ALL SHOWING SOME DECENT QPF CENTERED NEAR THE METRO & BAY AREA OVERNIGHT. WILL DIG INTO MORE THIS AFTN BUT WANTED TO GET A QUICK UPDATE OUT FOR NOW. 47 PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1040 AM CDT WED AUG 14 2013/ SCT SHRA/TSRA ASSOCIATED WITH WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY ONGOING ACROSS NE PARTS OF THE REGION. THINK THIS WILL PROBABLY TRANSITION TO THE SW WHERE SW WINDS & SUNSHINE ARE HEATING THINGS UP. FCST SOUNDINGS ARE SHOWING SOME INVERTED-V FEATURES SO WOULD ANTICIPATE POTENTIAL FOR DOWNBURSTS IN ANY OF THE STRONGER CELLS THAT DEVELOP. FCST IS IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE. DID NUDGE TEMPS & POPS UP A TOUCH ACROSS SW 1/2 OF CWA FOR THE AFTN HOURS. 47 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... COLLEGE STATION (CLL) 97 74 93 72 93 / 50 30 30 10 20 HOUSTON (IAH) 97 76 92 74 93 / 50 40 40 10 20 GALVESTON (GLS) 94 80 89 79 91 / 30 40 40 10 20 && .HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && DISCUSSION...43 AVIATION/MARINE...40
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 643 AM CDT WED AUG 14 2013 TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-151145- 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- 643 AM CDT WED AUG 14 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT IN ASSOCIATION WITH A SLOW MOVING FRONTAL BOUNDARY APPROACHING FROM THE NORTH. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE STRONG...WITH BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...GUSTY WINDS...AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
224 PM CDT WED AUG 14 2013
TXZ176-177-196-198-142015-
BRAZOS-WALKER-MADISON-GRIMES-
224 PM CDT WED AUG 14 2013
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHERN GRIMES...NORTHERN
BRAZOS...WALKER...AND MADISON COUNTIES UNTIL 315 PM CDT...
AT 223 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM NEAR
MADISONVILLE TO 12 MILES NORTH OF KURTEN...AND MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20
MPH.
HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF PEAS AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH WILL BE
POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
MADISONVILLE...BEDIAS...KURTEN...MIDWAY...IOLA...AND NORTH ZULCH.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THESE STORMS.
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE 15 MILES AWAY FROM A THUNDERSTORM. SEEK A SAFE
SHELTER INSIDE A BUILDING OR VEHICLE.
THESE STORMS MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND
TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS...FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
&&
LAT...LON 3078 9554 3072 9626 3091 9635 3097 9626
3099 9617 3105 9607 3109 9579
TIME...MOT...LOC 1923Z 326DEG 18KT 3101 9587 3097 9629
40The Houston radar (KHGX), 165 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:30 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A severe thunderstorm produced this wind gust over the western shore area of Lake Livingston.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2013
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: 460247.