A weak upper level disturbance interacted with a moist boundary layer to generate thunderstorms some of which produced heavy rain leading to flash flooding.
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The episode as NWS EWX wrote it up.
A weak upper level disturbance interacted with a moist boundary layer to generate thunderstorms some of which produced heavy rain leading to flash flooding.
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 Aug 17, 5:59 PM CST, 3 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio TX 659 PM CDT WED AUG 17 2016 .UPDATE... /EXPIRATION OF FFA PLANNED AT 00Z/ A few locallized pockets of heavy rain will possibly dump over an inch of rain and produce new minor flooding of low water crossings over part of the Hill Country. Otherwise the radar trends are rapidly decreasing, and will let the FFA expire at 00z. Moderate flash flooding will still be possible over the warned areas mainly on some of the larger creeks, as the heavy rain has moved off the locations with the highest totals and radar estimates. Additional pockets of isolated heavy rains may resume on Thursday, but a decrease is expected in both the amount of nocturnal activity and the larger daytime storm clusters. HWO will be updated soon to clarify the reduced threat but still a potential for localized flooding due to isolated 1 to 2 inch rain areas that may continue through the weekend into early next week. && .AVIATION... /00 TAFS/ A gradual increase in stability is expected over the next day but not enough to prevent additional evening and early morning light showers. Scattered, more air mass type thunderstorms will be possible in the daytime Thursday, but coverage and briefness does not suggest anything worth more than a late period PROB30 group. With abundant debris clouds from earlier storms and some lingering light showers, low cigs and vsbys will continue to be generalized for diurnal trends, and perhaps clarified more in the 06Z TAF updates. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 239 PM CDT WED AUG 17 2016/ SHORT TERM (Tonight through Thursday Night)... Earlier model runs were on track with the re-development of convection across the coastal plains this afternoon. Similarly, the increase in convection on the Mexican Plateau with diurnal heating and the approach of the shortwave trough over southern New Mexico seems on track with model projections. We expect the models' evolution of storms to continue through late evening and then taper off around midnight looks on track. The heaviest rain will probably be late this afternoon into early evening, so we will keep the Flash Flood Watch going until 7 pm. LONG TERM (Friday through Wednesday)... Good news for drought relief, not so much for the last weekend before more schools start the rest of this week into the weekend. The mid and upper level shear axis remains locked in over Texas, with moist, Gulf flow in the easterlies over the coastal plains and fast-flow with shortwave troughs over the Panhandle and Trans-Pecos. This combination is favorable for continuing showers and thunderstorms for the next seven days. PoPs and QPF will decrease tomorrow and Friday, before picking up again Saturday and Sunday. Lower PoPs are expected again Monday and Tuesday before drier conditions finally arrive the middle of next week. However, looking beyond seven days, the shear axis or even a col in the mid- and upper-level flow will re-establish over Texas. The end result may be the end of oppressively hot days for this summer, as well as continuing drought relief. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Austin Camp Mabry 73 87 74 90 75 / 50 50 30 20 20 Austin Bergstrom Intl Airport 73 87 74 90 75 / 50 50 30 20 20 New Braunfels Muni Airport 73 89 74 91 75 / 50 50 30 20 20 Burnet Muni Airport 72 85 73 87 74 / 50 50 40 30 20 Del Rio Intl Airport 74 88 75 90 76 / 50 50 50 40 30 Georgetown Muni Airport 73 85 74 88 75 / 50 50 40 20 20 Hondo Muni Airport 74 88 74 90 75 / 40 40 30 20 20 San Marcos Muni Airport 73 87 74 90 75 / 50 50 30 20 20 La Grange - Fayette Regional 74 90 75 93 77 / 40 50 20 30 20 San Antonio Intl Airport 74 88 75 90 76 / 50 40 30 20 20 Stinson Muni Airport 75 90 75 92 76 / 40 40 20 20 20 && .EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Flash Flood Watch until 7 PM CDT this evening for the following counties: Atascosa...Bandera...Bastrop...Bexar...Blanco...Burnet... Caldwell...Comal...De Witt...Dimmit...Fayette...Frio...Gillespie... Gonzales...Guadalupe...Hays...Karnes...Kendall...Kerr...Lavaca... Lee...Llano...Medina...Real...Travis...Uvalde...Williamson... Wilson...Zavala. && Mesoscale/Aviation...Runyen Synoptic/Grids...Oaks Public Service/Data Collection...Treadway
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 244 PM CDT WED AUG 17 2016 TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-181945- 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- 244 PM CDT WED AUG 17 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY EVENING. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL MAY PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND EAST OF INTERSTATE 35. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT ALONG AND EAST OF U.S. HIGHWAY 83 THROUGH 7 PM. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE...WITH ISOLATED TOTALS UP TO 3 INCHES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED AGAIN ON THURSDAY...BUT ONLY ISOLATED STORMS ON FRIDAY. SCATTERED STORMS ARE EXPECTED AGAIN SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER SPOTTERS AND COCORAHS OBSERVERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL AMOUNTS OR FLOODING TO THE NWS.
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:02 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing Hwy 16 near Mansfield Park along the Medina River west of Bandera.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2016
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: 655728.