Flash Flood — Blanco, Texas

2015-05-23 · near Twin Sisters, Blanco, Texas

Event narrative

Thunderstorms produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding of the Little Blanco River. An 81 year old man was swept away near FM 473 at FM 32 and died. His body was found on May 28th near the Blanco/Hays County line. He escaped his car but was not able to survive the flood waters.

Wider weather episode

An upper level shortwave trough moved around the longwave low over the Four Corners region. This upper distubance interacted with a surface boundary moving northward as a warm front from South Texas into a very moist airmass. This combination led to thunderstorms that produced heavy rain and isolated severe weather. A historic flash flood occurred on the Blanco River late Saturday night into Sunday. Hundreds of homes were destroyed along the river from the City of Blanco down into Wimberley and San Marcos. The flood wave continued downstream for days affecting residents and homes along the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers. Early estimates show damages in excess of 100 million dollars. Several people lost their lives due to flash flooding. A large tornado outbreak occurred this Saturday night producing numerous small brief tornadoes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.0115, -98.3352)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 582021. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.