Flash Flood, Travis
- When
- September 28, 10:37 PM CST
- Where
- Travis County, 0.69 mi N of Pflugerville to 1.15 mi NW of Pflugerville
- Cause
- Heavy Rain
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 30.440, -97.620
Heavy rain caused flash flooding at FM 685 and FM1825.
Flash Flooding in Texas, September 28 to 29, 2013
A slow moving cold front moved eastward across South Central Texas. The front combined with above-average low level moisture to produce widespread heavy rains and localized flash flooding.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
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 happened
The episode as NWS EWX wrote it up.
A slow moving cold front moved eastward across South Central Texas. The front combined with above-average low level moisture to produce widespread heavy rains and localized flash flooding.
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 28, 5:54 PM CST, 4 hours 43 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 28, 5:54 PM CST, 4 hours 43 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 654 PM CDT SAT SEP 28 2013 .AVIATION... COLD FRONT AT 00Z LYING FROM NORTHEAST TEXAS SOUTHWEST THROUGH THE NORTHERN HILL COUNTRY TO THE MID RIO GRANDE PLAINS. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST OF THE FRONT AS IT SLIDES SLOWLY SOUTHEAST TONIGHT. MOSTLY VFR CLOUDS WITH CIGS AND VSBYS LOWERING TO MVFR THIS EVENING IN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. MORE NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL LINE THE FRONT AFTER DARK WITH WIDELY SCATTERED TO ISOLATED SHOWERS GENERALLY EAST OF THE FRONT. I-35 CORRIDOR TERMINALS VFR CLOUDS WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LOCALLY LOWERING CIGS AND VSBYS TO MVFR CONDITIONS. MORE WIDESPREAD MVFR CIGS DEVELOPING BY MIDNIGHT WITH OCNL MVFR VSBYS IN LIGHT RAIN AND SHOWERS. MVFR CIGS IMPROVING TO VFR BY EARLY AFTERNOON. I-35 TERMINAL WINDS LIGHT SOUTHEAST TO EAST EARLY THIS EVENING BECOMING NORTH 5 TO 10 KTS AFTER MIDNIGHT. KDRT TERMINAL VFR CIGS BECOMING MVFR CIGS TOWARDS DAWN. BECOMING VFR BY LATE MORNING. NORTHWEST TO NORTH WINDS 5 TO 10 KTS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 300 PM CDT SAT SEP 28 2013/ SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT)... THIS AFTERNOON SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AS SFC HEATING DESTABILIZED THE TROPICAL AIRMASS. A COLD FRONT WAS ALSO MOVING SOUTHEAST AND HAD MOVED INTO THE EDWARDS PLATEAU. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT AS THE COLD FRONT SLOWLY SAGS SOUTHWARD PROVIDING THE FOCUS FOR CONVECTION. PWATS WILL BE AROUND 2 INCHES AS THE NORTHERN STREAM S/W TAPS INTO TROPICAL PACIFIC MOISTURE IN ADDITION TO THE LOW LEVEL GULF MOISTURE. THIS MEANS THAT LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS LIKELY. RAINFALL TOTALS WILL AVERAGE BETWEEN ONE QUARTER AND ONE HALF INCH WITH ISOLATED TOTALS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES POSSIBLE. DUE TO ONGOING DROUGHT CONDITIONS...ONLY MINOR FLOODING OF STREETS AND STREAMS IN URBAN AREAS IS EXPECTED DUE TO RUNOFF FROM IMPERVIOUS SURFACES. THE CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT AS THE UPPER LEVEL TROF AXIS AND ATTENDANT FRONTAL BOUNDARY MOVE SLOWLY TOWARDS THE COAST. LOWS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY NIGHT WILL CONTINUE TO RUN ABOVE NORMAL. HIGHS ON SUNDAY WILL BE NEAR NORMAL DUE TO CLOUDS AND PCPN. LONG TERM (MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY)... ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL END FROM WEST TO EAST ON MONDAY AS THE UPPER LEVEL TROF AXIS FINALLY SHIFTS TO THE SE OF OUR REGION. TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY WILL BE DRY AS A WEAK RIDGE ALOFT BUILDS WESTWARD FROM MEXICO. SEA-BREEZE SHOWERS RETURN ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS A SFC LOW DEEPENS OVER THE TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES. ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE MONDAY THRU FRIDAY. THE FIRST STRONG COLD FRONT OF THE FALL SEASON WILL ARRIVE FRIDAY NIGHT. A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY ACCOMPANY THE FROPA. HIGHS ON SATURDAY OF NEXT WEEK WILL RANGE FROM THE UPPER 70S ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY TO MID 80S SOUTHWEST WITH NORTHERLY WINDS ON 15 TO 20 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... AUSTIN CAMP MABRY 74 88 71 89 71 / 80 60 20 20 10 AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTL AIRPORT 72 87 69 88 68 / 70 60 30 20 10 NEW BRAUNFELS MUNI AIRPORT 73 88 70 89 69 / 60 50 20 20 10 BURNET MUNI AIRPORT 71 84 66 88 68 / 80 60 20 10 10 DEL RIO INTL AIRPORT 73 85 71 90 71 / 30 30 10 - - GEORGETOWN MUNI AIRPORT 72 85 67 88 68 / 80 60 20 20 10 HONDO MUNI AIRPORT 72 89 69 90 69 / 70 40 20 10 10 SAN MARCOS MUNI AIRPORT 73 88 69 88 68 / 70 50 30 20 10 LA GRANGE - FAYETTE REGIONAL 75 88 73 89 72 / 60 50 40 30 20 SAN ANTONIO INTL AIRPORT 75 88 71 89 72 / 70 50 20 20 10 STINSON MUNI AIRPORT 76 89 72 90 73 / 60 40 20 20 10 && .EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && MESOSCALE/AVIATION...02 SYNOPTIC/GRIDS...05 PUBLIC SERVICE/DATA COLLECTION...12
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 28, 1:30 PM CST, 9 hours 7 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 230 PM CDT SAT SEP 28 2013 TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-291200- LLANO-BURNET-WILLIAMSON-VAL VERDE-EDWARDS-REAL-KERR-BANDERA- GILLESPIE-KENDALL-BLANCO-HAYS-TRAVIS-BASTROP-LEE-KINNEY-UVALDE- MEDINA-BEXAR-COMAL-GUADALUPE-CALDWELL-FAYETTE-MAVERICK-ZAVALA- FRIO-ATASCOSA-WILSON-KARNES-GONZALES-DE WITT-LAVACA-DIMMIT- 230 PM CDT SAT SEP 28 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM ACROSS THE ROCKIES WILL MOVE INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST. THIS SYSTEM WILL ENHANCE GULF MOISTURE ADVECTION ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. THE DEEP MOISTURE ACROSS OUR AREA WILL COMBINE WITH AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY. THE BEST COVERAGE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY. DUE TO THE MOIST AIRMASS SPREAD OVER OUR AREA...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE. RAINFALL TOTALS FOR TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY ARE EXPECTED TO BE ONE INCH OR LESS...BUT A FEW LOCATIONS MAY SEE ONE TO THREE INCHES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE SUNDAY MORNING WITH RAIN CHANCES BEGINNING TO DECREASE DURING SUNDAY AFTERNOON. SLIGHT CHANCES FOR RAIN WILL CONTINUE ON MONDAY AS THE WEAK COLD FRONT WASHES OUT OVER THE COASTAL PLAINS/UPPER TEXAS COAST. WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK WITH NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Sep 28, 10:37 PM CST, 0 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
1137 PM CDT SAT SEP 28 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1137 PM FLASH FLOOD PFLUGERVILLE 30.44N 97.62W
09/28/2013 TRAVIS TX PUBLIC
PUBLIC REPORTED FLOODING OF FM 685.
&&
BRUEWXThe radar
The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 39 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:37 UTC.
Event by event
4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Comal
- When
- September 29, 2:09 AM CST
- Where
- Comal County, 1.01 mi WNW of Sattler to 3.19 mi E of Valley View
- Cause
- Heavy Rain
- Reported by
- Law Enforcement
- Coordinates
- 29.837, -98.185
Several low water crossings were flooded across Comal county due to heavy rain.
Flash Flood, Medina
- When
- September 29, 2:15 AM CST
- Where
- Medina County, 1.89 mi ENE of Hondo to 2.36 mi ENE of Hondo Arpt
- Cause
- Heavy Rain
- Reported by
- Law Enforcement
- Coordinates
- 29.359, -99.120
Several roads were closed in Hondo due to flooding.
Flash Flood, Guadalupe
- When
- September 29, 4:00 AM CST
- Where
- Guadalupe County, 2.57 mi SW of Staples to 5.99 mi ENE of Geronimo
- Cause
- Heavy Rain
- Reported by
- NWS Employee
- Coordinates
- 29.750, -97.855
Heavy rain caused flash flooding at the intersection of FM 20 and FM 621. Time is approximate.
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
- Flash Flood and Flood in Texas, September 28 to 29, 2013
- Heavy Rain in Washington, September 28, 2013
- High Wind and Strong Wind in Oregon, September 28, 2013
- Flood and Heavy Rain in Oregon, September 28 to 30, 2013
- Strong Wind in Michigan, September 28, 2013
- High Wind in Oregon, September 28 to 30, 2013
- Damaging Winds in Kansas, September 28, 2013
- Flash Flooding in Texas, September 28, 2013
- Flash Flooding in Texas, September 28 to 29, 2013
- High Wind in Wyoming, September 28, 2013
- Flooding in Nebraska, September 28 to 30, 2013
- High Wind in Washington, September 28, 2013
More
Every storm in Texas in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, September 2013
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: 475106, 475604, 475607, 475608.