An upper level trough brought a surface frontal system through South Central Texas. Thunderstorms formed along a prefrontal trough and produced heavy rainfall early on the 25th.
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.
An upper level trough brought a surface frontal system through South Central Texas. Thunderstorms formed along a prefrontal trough and produced heavy rainfall early on the 25th. The cold front brought another round of heavy rain later on the 25th and into the 26th.
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 25, 5:34 AM CST, 3 hours 11 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio TX 634 AM CDT SUN SEP 25 2016 .AVIATION... /12Z TAFS/ A shortwave disturbance lifting north across the Edwards Plateau has enhanced numerous thunderstorms from Nrn Mexico into the Hill Country while a packing of the surface pressure gradient over the Coastal Prairies has enhanced scattered convection that extende SE into the Gulf. The convection over the eastern Hill Country could create timing problems for the cold front, and rapid refresh models have struggled to maintain any form of consistency in depicting enhanced periods of rain chances for TAF considerations. The steady forecasts of VCTS and prevailing showers is probably too pessimistic for the I-35 terminals, especially late periods for SAT/SSF, whereas a constant influx of convection is more agreed upon by models at DRT. Cold front timing is not well illustrated in the TAF wind groups as there is some surface troughing to the south that could start north winds ahead of time. Given the fropa being subtle, the current thinking is that there will be more opportunity for overrunning and possibly lower cigs. Thus will go with steady IFR conditions in the wake of the front. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 324 AM CDT SUN SEP 25 2016/ SHORT TERM (Today through Monday)... Much of the overnight rain is staying west of Highway 83 within the shear axis to the east of the upper level trough. Rainfall amounts so far across Val Verde, Edwards, and Kinney County have averaged 1 to 3 inches. This area of light to moderate showers and thunderstorms will continue through the morning hours. There are additional showers and storms developing over the Gulf of Mexico and near the coast to our southeast. Could see some of this activity develop or spread into our southeastern counties and spread north throughout the day today. By late this afternoon, the upper low will begin to retreat to the west which will slightly weaken the upper support for convection. At the same time, the main trough in the northern plains will continue to move east. This feature will send a cold front into Texas this afternoon and the front will approach the northern CWA around midnight tonight. The boundary should serve as a focus for the development of numerous showers and thunderstorms for the overnight period. The center of the surface trough will be near Val Verde County and this should help to promote higher coverages and rain amounts in this region through Monday morning. Rainfall amounts through Monday will average 2-5 inches west of Highway 83, 1-3 inches to the west of the I-35 corridor, and around an inch for the eastern counties. Given the expected additional rainfall amounts and where the heaviest rain has already fallen, have opted to issue a Flash Flood Watch for Val Verde, Kinney, Edwards, Real, and Uvalde County until 12z Monday. Temperatures behind the front Monday will be in the lower 70s to middle 80s with lingering rain chances. The threat of heavy rainfall will be less on Monday as the cold front pushes south of the area by the afternoon hours and the best lift will be weak isentropic lift on top of the frontal layer. LONG TERM (Monday Night through Saturday)... Rain chances will continue Monday night as weak post-frontal lift continues across the area. Should finally start to see rain chances end by Tuesday night as the lift shuts off. Additional rainfall amounts Monday night through Tuesday night should average less than a half of an inch. Temperatures on Tuesday and Wednesday will be coolest of the fall season so far with lows in the 50s across the Hill Country and 60s elsewhere. Highs will be in the 70s and 80s on Tuesday and will remain in the 80s for the remainder of the forecast period. Beyond Tuesday night, the forecast will remain rain free. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Austin Camp Mabry 89 71 80 63 81 / 50 60 60 20 20 Austin Bergstrom Intl Airport 89 70 80 64 81 / 50 60 60 20 20 New Braunfels Muni Airport 89 70 82 64 81 / 50 60 60 20 20 Burnet Muni Airport 85 67 74 60 77 / 60 70 60 20 10 Del Rio Intl Airport 83 70 76 62 73 / 80 90 80 60 30 Georgetown Muni Airport 87 68 77 62 79 / 50 70 60 20 10 Hondo Muni Airport 89 71 81 64 81 / 50 70 60 40 20 San Marcos Muni Airport 88 70 80 64 81 / 50 60 60 20 20 La Grange - Fayette Regional 89 72 85 67 83 / 50 60 50 30 20 San Antonio Intl Airport 89 72 82 65 81 / 50 60 60 30 20 Stinson Muni Airport 89 72 83 66 82 / 50 60 60 30 20 && .EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Flash Flood Watch through Monday morning for the following counties: Edwards...Kinney...Real...Uvalde...Val Verde. && Mesoscale/Aviation...Oaks Synoptic/Grids...Hampshire
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 444 AM CDT SUN SEP 25 2016 TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-260945- 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- 444 AM CDT SUN SEP 25 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT. HEAVIEST RAINFALL IS EXPECTED GENERALLY WEST OF HIGHWAY 83. SOME HEAVY RAINFALL HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED OVER PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN EDWARDS PLATEAU...AND A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR VAL VERDE...EDWARDS...REAL...KINNEY...AND UVALDE COUNTIES THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLOODING WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE OVER WESTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT RAINFALL AMOUNTS OVER THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.
The Laughlin AFB radar (KDFX), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 14:45 UTC.
18 flash flood, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing the intersection of Hwy 377 and RR674 west of Rocksprings.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing CR336 near the Frio River north of Leakey.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing Hwy 55 south of Barksdale.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing all roads into and out of Rocksprings.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing FM674 and FM334 north of Brackettville.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing RM3008 in northwestern Kinney County.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding sending the Frio River out of its banks at Garner State Park.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding sending the Frio River two to three feet over Old Leakey Rd at Magers Crossing south of Garner State Park.
The Travis County Sheriff's Office reported that a woman was struck and killed by lightning in northwestern Austin. She was found dead on a hiking trail off of River Place Blvd.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding leading to a high water rescue at the I-35 Frontage Road and Palo Alto Rd. in southwestern San Antonio.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding leading to a high water rescue at 12280 Hwy 16 in southeastern San Antonio.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding leading to a water rescue at S. Callaghan Rd. and Hwy 151 in western San Antonio.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding leading to a water rescue at Prestwick Blvd. and Ferrington Dr. in southeastern San Antonio.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding leading to a high water rescue at General Hudnell Dr. and Cupples Rd. in San Antonio.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing low water crossings along Schoenthal Rd. near FM3009 near Bracken.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing Hueco Springs Loop Rd. at Elm Creek Rd. in northwestern New Braunfels.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing Stahl Ln. near Smithson Valley Rd. east of Bulverde.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding stranding a commercial garbage truck in approximately three and a half feet of water near the intersection of Holbrook Ln. and Aina Ln. along Salado Creek in northeastern San Antonio. The truck driver was rescued by firefighters.
Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding closing Aquarena Springs Dr. at Sessom Dr. near the San Marcos River in San Marcos.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Travis | 2016-09-25 | 37 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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, September 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: 656400, 656403, 656404, 656405, 656407, 656408, 656425, 656430, 656410, 656412, 656413, 656414, 656415, 656417, 656418, 656421, 656422, 656419, 656420.