Tropical Storm Frances developed in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, September 9, after being made tropical depression number 6 the day before, September 8, 1998. Early Friday morning September 11th, Tropical Storm Frances made landfall on the Texas Coast, between Corpus Christi and Victoria. The tropical storm then drifted slowly north northwest to near Victoria during the day. See... Radar Reflectivity ... Satellite Photo of Tropical Storm Frances late Friday morning, September 11, 1998. ...AND Surface Weather Map at 1 PM CDT Fri. Sep 11th

The remnants of Tropical Storm Frances then moved northward to near Bryan/College Station around 1 pm Saturday, then to North Texas, late Saturday, September 12th, and on Sunday, September 13th. ...GO TO...1 PM CDT Sat. Sep 12th Surface Map AND... 7 AM CDT Sun. Sep 13th Surface Map

On Thursday, September 10th, the winds and rains from the tropical storm affected South Central Texas. Winds increased over the area Thursday night and Friday morning the 11th.

Very heavy rains fell Thursday night and Friday morning over the eastern parts of South Central Texas. The heaviest rain fell in LaVaca and DeWitt counties, where 24 hour rain amounts ending Friday morning varied from near 3 inches to 7.70 inches. Some the of heaviest amounts included 7.70 inches near Edgar in DeWitt County, 7.55 inches near Thomaston in DeWitt County, 7.21 inches southwest of Westhoff in DeWitt County, 6.75 inches near Cuero in DeWitt County, 6.50 inches near Lindenau in DeWitt County and 6.50 inches at Hallettsville in LaVaca County. Further west, 1 to 2 inch rains fell from near and around San Antonio east to parts of Guadalupe and Wilson Counties. Just east of South Central Texas, 8.16 inches of rain fell in the western part of Wharton County, while 7.80 inches fell near Ganado in northern Jackson County.

During the day on Friday the 11th, areas of very heavy rain affected Austin and San Antonio. See Radar Reflectivity at 1133 AM CDT Friday September 11. As tropical storm Frances moved inland Friday, winds arcross South Centeral Texas were from the north and northeast at 15 to 25 mph with gusts near 40 mph. Austin received 2.35 inches of rain, while San Antonio Internatioanl Airport had 0.95 inches and Del Rio 0.09 inches. As this tropical system moved north Friday night it was downgraded to a tropical depression. See 915 PM CDT Infared Satelite Photo.

As the remnants of Tropical Storm Frances moved into North Texas Saturday, mostly cloudy skies and scattered areas of rain, showers and thunderstorms affected the area. Being southwest of the tropical low, South Central Texas received northwesterly winds and wrap around clouds and precipitation. Austin picked up 0.23 inches, San Antonio 0.11 inches and Del Rio did not get any rain. Being well to the west of this tropical system, Del Rio, from September 11 to 13, did not get as much rain as the rest of South Central Texas.

As the remnants of Tropical Storm Frances moved north, South Central Texas was left in a moderately unstable environment with a weak upper air disturbace over the area. Upper level winds were not strong enough to carry the upper level disturbance away. This left a favorable rain pattern over the area from the 14th to the 17th. Heavy rain affected the Austin area and eastern parts of South Central Texas the 14th to 17th. Austin received 3.51 inches the 15th and 16th. On September 17, Del Rio picked up a more sizeable amount of rain, when numerous late afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms caused locally heavy rain in the area. Del Rio International Airport received 1.26 inches of rain, while some parts of Del Rio received near 2 inches of rain. For the week from Monday Sep 14th to Friday the 18th, Austin picked up a total of 3.68 inches of rain; Del Rio 1.34 inches; and San Antonio 0.27 inches.

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