Flash Flood — Bexar, Texas

2013-05-25 · near (rnd)randolph Afb Sa, Bexar, Texas

Event narrative

Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding in and around San Antonio and Bexar County. There was record rainfall in the San Antonio area with the San Antonio International Airport recording 9.87 inches of rain (2nd highest 24 hr total on record) and CoCoRAHS observers reporting over 11 inches. Most of the rain fell in about six hours with four inches in one hour between 6 and 7 AM. A USGS stream and rain gauge on Olmos Creek and Dresden Drive reported 2.58 inches in 15 min between 615 and 630 am. The gauge reported 6.13 inches in one hour, 9.46 inches in 2 hours, and totaled 15.31 inches in 5 hours. A 24hr total at this gauge was 17 inches of rain. This led to massive flooding in the Olmos Basin/Creek just inside Loop 410 near the Quarry. Most of the flooding across the city was in north central and northwest San Antonio along and just side Loop 410. This rain came a day after another heavy rain event with parts of the city receiving over two inches. This all led to major flooding with Olmos Creek, the Medina River, Leon Creek, the San Antonio River, and Salado Creek all reaching major flood stage. There were many roads closed including Hwy 281 at Olmos Creek which remained closed for several days. At 10 AM, there was a foot of water over Ingram and Callaghan Rds. San Antonio creeks and streams saw big rises in their levels which led to additional flooding down steam in the south portion of Bexar County. Areas that were hit the hardest included the Espada Road area near the San Antonio River and Loop 410 intersection. A mobile home park on Plumnear Road off Leon Creek on the southwest side of the city was flooded out. Several hundred rescues and calls for rescue occurred during the morning of the 25th. Two fatalities occurred inside Bexar County. A woman was killed when her car was swept away in flood waters along Leon Creek at the 5800 Block of U.S Highway 90. Another woman was killed in her car when her car was swept away in the 400 Block of Rhapsody Drive about 730 am. In all the City of San Antonio and Bexar County Emergency Management agencies found over 350 impacted residences with 15 of those being destroyed and 27 suffering major damage. The other residences suffered minor damages. Most of the destroyed residences were in the Espada area along the San Antonio River in southeast Bexar County.

Wider weather episode

An upper level trough moved across Texas and combined with deep low moisture to produce heavy rain on consecutive days that produced flash flooding. The city of San Antonio was hit the hardest with portions of the city seeing significant flash flooding, flooded homes, and even a few fatalities. In addition, a few small tornadoes were reported.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (29.5300, -98.3000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 453032. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.