Man drowns off Galveston beach due to rip current.
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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.
Man drowns off Galveston beach due to rip current.
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 Oct 18, 3:06 PM CST, 5 hours 24 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX 406 PM CDT Sun Oct 18 2020 .UPDATE... Resent to update the temperature/POP table. && .PREV DISCUSSION /Issued 326 PM CDT Sun Oct 18 2020/... .SHORT TERM (Tonight through Monday Night) ... A very warm day will lead into an unseasonably warm night as low level moisture continues to stream into the area. Cloud cover and a bit of wind will keep temperatures near 70 over the north and lower/mid 70's south. Moisture may deepen enough tonight to get some showers beneath the cap after 08z. On Monday, a weak cold front will approach SE TX in the morning and will probably make it into the region before stalling out somewhere between College Station and Houston. The front will likely serve as an additional focus for showers and isolated thunderstorms. Leaned toward a NAM/NMM/ARW and TT WRF blend on the frontal position. Have lowered MaxT values for College Station and bumped up rain chances areawide. The front washes out as it slowly retreats north on Monday night. Moisture levels drop on Monday night and cloud cover could be less than the past couple of nights leading to slightly cooler overnight low temperatures. With wet ground and clearing skies, there will be some potential for fog by Tuesday morning. 43 .LONG TERM [Tuesday through Sunday]... In a nutshell, the long-term forecast features above normal temperatures, chances for rain/storms and the potential for a cold front passage next weekend. A few disturbances embedded in the quasi-zonal flow aloft will continue to move across the area, bringing chances of showers and storms. It won't be a complete washout, but enough for some isolated to perhaps, scattered precipitation at times. Onshore flow persists and will continue to bring a warm and moist Gulf airmass inland. Capping remains weak; therefore, decent instability and moisture will help to spark a few showers/storms along the coast in the morning and farther inland in the afternoon. An upper-level trough will develop over the Northern Rockies, dragging a cold front over TX Friday into the weekend. While deterministic models now are in better agreement on bringing this front at/close to our region; there are still discrepancies on its amplitude and phase. The EC brings the front close to our northwestern counties late Friday night, then moving through the Gulf waters on Saturday. The GFS suggests a slightly slower front, reaching the KCLL/KUTS region by Saturday morning. This front may not bring a significant change in temperatures, but at least, we will go back to seasonal temperatures and will have a relief in humidity. Given these solutions, the forecast from Friday night through Sunday is a blend between the GFS, EC and NBM to obtain temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s and dewpoints from the upper 50s to upper 60s. While models are in good agreement, we are still a few days out, so confidence is still low to moderate. Temperature-wise, it will remain above normal throughout the week with forecast highs mainly in the 80s and overnight lows in the upper 60s to low 70s. 05 .MARINE... High pressure over the eastern U.S. will maintain an onshore wind overnight. A weak cold front will move into SE TX on Monday but the front will stall out before reaching the coastal waters. The flow will weaken as the pressure gradient slackens. The front will dissipate and the pressure gradient will tighten again Tuesday and Tuesday night as pressures fall over West Texas. Winds will back to the east mid week as low pressure develops over the southern Gulf. An east wind will then persist through Friday night. A cold front is then expected to cross the coastal waters next Saturday. Water levels will remain slightly elevated this week with the persistent onshore flow. Tides could reach 3.4 feet above MLLW on Wednesday. There will also be a risk for strong rip currents as the winds back to the east. 43 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... College Station (CLL) 70 78 69 86 69 / 20 30 10 10 10 Houston (IAH) 73 85 70 85 70 / 20 40 10 20 10 Galveston (GLS) 76 81 75 83 76 / 30 20 10 20 10 && .HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...None. GM...None. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
A man who struggled in the water near the 53rd Street rock groin Sunday evening died between 7 pm and 8 pm.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rip Current, Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula | 2020-10-18 | 42 | Male | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, October 2020
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: 919903.