Thunderstorms developed early in the morning producing flash flooding across the eastern areas of the county warning area. These storms exited the area by mid morning.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 EWX wrote it up.
Thunderstorms developed early in the morning producing flash flooding across the eastern areas of the county warning area. These storms exited the area by mid morning. More storms developed in the evening as well across the Edwards Plateau and Hill Country.
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 May 18, 4:50 AM CST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 550 AM CDT MON MAY 18 2015 .AVIATION... SHRA/TSRA ALL AREAS TODAY WILL SHIFT TO THE RIO GRANDE PLAINS AND EDWARDS TONIGHT...THEN EDWARDS PLATEAU...HILL COUNTRY AND AUSTIN AREA TUESDAY. ISOLD SHRA/TSRA ARE EXPECTED ELSEWHERE. FOR NOW... HAVE LEFT MENTION OUT OF TAFS AS PROBS ARE TOO LOW TO MENTION. IFR/MVFR CIGS LIFT TO VFR MIDDAY INTO AFTERNOON. MVFR CIGS RETURN THIS EVENING...THEN IFR OVERNIGHT AND BACK TO MVFR TUESDAY. PATCHY IFR/MVFR VSBYS IN BR ARE EXPECTED EARLY THIS MORNING AND OVERNIGHT TONIGHT AS WELL IN SHRA/TSRA. S TO SE WINDS 5 TO 15 KTS PREVAIL WITH GUSTS TO 25 KTS POSSIBLE. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 353 AM CDT MON MAY 18 2015/ SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY)...WEAK MID LEVEL FORCING AND STRENGTHENING LOW LEVEL JET ARE CONTRIBUTING TO SCATTERED SHOWER AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT EARLY THIS MORNING. COVERAGE SHOULD CONTINUE TO INCREASE THROUGH THE EARLY TO MID MORNING HOURS...EVENTUALLY FOCUSING MORE TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST CWA...NORTHEAST OF A SAN MARCOS TO HALLETTSVILLE LINE...AS MID LEVEL FLOW VEERS MORE SOUTHWEST AND SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR WORKS INTO THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES. CONVECTION SHOULD ALSO FIRE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF MEXICO AND ACROSS THE BIG BEND AND WEST TEXAS NEAR THE DRY LINE. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD REACH WESTERN AREAS OF THE EDWARDS PLATEAU AND RIO GRANDE PLAINS THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. A STRONGER STORM OR TWO WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THIS REGION. TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT THE UPPER LEVEL LOW CURRENTLY OVER CALIFORNIA WILL SHEAR NORTHEAST THROUGH THE ROCKIES. A LEAD MID AND UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE WILL PASS THROUGH WEST TEXAS AND THE PANHANDLE...AND INTO NORTH TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA. THE MAIN FORCING WILL PASS PRIMARILY NORTH OF THE CWA...BUT CLOSE ENOUGH FOR SCATTERED POPS NORTH OF A DEL RIO TO AUSTIN LINE ON TUESDAY. LONG TERM (TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY)...ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL DEVELOP OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. INITIALLY SHOULD SEE A REDUCTION IN POPS ON WEDNESDAY WITH SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR IN PLACE...STRENGTHENING CAP...AND LACK OF FORCING. FORECAST CONFIDENCE DECREASES WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY... DEPENDENT ON SOUTHWARD PROGRESSION OF A COLD FRONT. BOTH THE NAM12 AND ECMWF ARE STRONGER AND FARTHER SOUTH THAN THE GFS WITH A COLD FRONT THAT DROPS SOUTH BEHIND THE AFOREMENTIONED DEPARTING SHORTWAVE THROUGH THE SOUTHERN PLAINS TUESDAY NIGHT. BOTH HAVE THE FRONT ENTERING THE HILL COUNTRY WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND BISECTING THE CWA BY 12Z THURSDAY. ORGANIZED CONVECTION AND ASSOCIATED OUTFLOW TO THE NORTH ON WEDNESDAY WILL LIKELY PLAY A ROLE ON HOW FAR SOUTH FRONT MAKES IT WEDNESDAY NIGHT. FOR NOW HAVE FOLLOWED SLIGHTLY CLOSER TO THE NAM12/ECMWF SOLUTIONS OVER THE GFS...SHOWING THE FRONT WILL BE CLOSE OR INTO THE CWA WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. BACKED FLOW...MOISTURE POOLING...WEAKENING CAP AND THE FRONT SHOULD RESULT IN AN INCREASE IN POPS...ESPECIALLY NORTHERN AND WESTERN AREAS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND SOUTHERN AND WESTERN AREAS THURSDAY. CONFIDENCE IS EVEN LOWER THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY ON WHERE FRONT STALLS AND WHEN IT EVENTUALLY LIFTS BACK NORTH. AGAIN...CONVECTIVE OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES WILL LIKELY PLAY A ROLE IN THIS. TIMING OF ANY DISTURBANCES ALSO IN THE APPROACHING ACTIVE SUB-TROPICAL BRANCH OF THE JET STREAM ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO PINPOINT THIS FAR OUT. BUT GENERALLY CONTINUED SCATTERED POPS IN THE FORECAST THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. TEMPERATURES ALSO TRICKY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY... AND MAY HAVE TO BE LOWERED IN FUTURE PACKAGES ACROSS NORTHERN AREAS FOR THURSDAY IF FRONT IS FARTHER SOUTH. EVENTUALLY THE SECOND UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER CALIFORNIA OPENS AND MOVES EAST FRIDAY AND INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND TEXAS OVER THE WEEKEND. BOTH THE ECMWF AND GFS ARE INDICATE ANOTHER GOOD SHOT OF PRECIP SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... AUSTIN CAMP MABRY 86 72 85 71 86 / 50 20 30 10 20 AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTL AIRPORT 85 72 85 71 86 / 50 20 30 10 20 NEW BRAUNFELS MUNI AIRPORT 86 72 86 71 85 / 40 20 20 10 20 BURNET MUNI AIRPORT 84 71 83 70 83 / 40 20 40 10 20 DEL RIO INTL AIRPORT 88 72 88 72 88 / 40 40 30 20 20 GEORGETOWN MUNI AIRPORT 84 71 84 71 84 / 50 20 30 10 20 HONDO MUNI AIRPORT 86 72 87 72 87 / 40 20 20 20 20 SAN MARCOS MUNI AIRPORT 86 72 85 71 86 / 50 20 20 10 20 LA GRANGE - FAYETTE REGIONAL 86 73 86 73 86 / 50 10 20 10 20 SAN ANTONIO INTL AIRPORT 87 72 86 72 86 / 40 20 20 10 20 STINSON MUNI AIRPORT 87 73 87 73 87 / 40 20 20 10 20 && .EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && MESOSCALE/AVIATION...04 SYNOPTIC/GRIDS...76
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 410 AM CDT MON MAY 18 2015 TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-191000- 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- 410 AM CDT MON MAY 18 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY INTO TONIGHT. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT MOST AREAS. AN ISOLATED STRONG STORM OR TWO IS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE EDWARDS PLATEAU AND RIO GRANDE PLAINS THIS EVENING INTO OVERNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS AND STRONG STORMS ARE POSSIBLE...MAINLY WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY AND AGAIN SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
527 AM CDT MON MAY 18 2015
TXZ223-181100-
GONZALES TX-
527 AM CDT MON MAY 18 2015
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHEASTERN GONZALES COUNTY
UNTIL 600 AM CDT...
AT 526 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR
GONZALES...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 30 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
GONZALES...WAELDER...LITTLE NEW YORK...DILWORTH...NEWTONVILLE AND
NICKLE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM...AND MAY LEAD
TO FLASH FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOODED
ROADWAYS.
FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM.
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE 10 MILES AWAY FROM A THUNDERSTORM. SEEK A SAFE
SHELTER INSIDE A BUILDING OR VEHICLE.
&&
LAT...LON 2963 9714 2958 9721 2957 9720 2944 9737
2959 9748 2976 9730 2964 9713
TIME...MOT...LOC 1026Z 229DEG 20KT 2954 9739
CPThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 flash flood, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Water was reported over the roadway at Interstate 10 and the Gonzales and Fayette county line. A report of a semi-truck sliding off a roadway due to high water, and a high water rescue in the city of Gonzales were received but no additional details given.
Roads at Highway 95 and 609 were closed due to high water. Also, a number of low water crossings within the city of Flatonia had water flowing over them.
Airport Road near Highway 71 was closed due to high water northwest of the city of La Grange.
Sections of Highway 90 and FM 1579 east of Schulenberg have water over the roadways. There were also reports of road damage and washed out culverts along these roadways.
On Monday May 18th around 8:50 AM, a woman died in her Honda SUV after her vehicle was swept off a flooded road and lodged underneath a small bridge on the other side of the highway. This happened on the southwest side of San Antonio along the I-35 frontage road near Cassin Road. The vehicle drove around a barricade onto the flooded access road which was at least 2-3 feet underwater. Her body was recovered around 5 pm after flood waters receded. Many roads and low water crossings remained flooded across San Antonio due to heavy rains that occurred early Sunday morning, the previous day.
Nickel sized hail was reported about 9 miles northwest of the city of Llano.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood, Bexar | 2015-05-18 | 79 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 2015
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: 577979, 577980, 577982, 577984, 583166, 577985.