2003 was a year when weather patterns continued to shift to new trends as the year unfolded. The year began with a few precipitation events, a muted carry over from wet Fall Pattern in the Fall of 2002. With the February 2003 precipitation events, came very cold air twice, resulting in 2 winter precipitation events in February.  As Spring came, the rainfall switch nearly turned off, and then as Spring was ending in late May and early June, the rainfall switch turned on. Before the summer rains came, hot July and August like days showed up in May. Overall the summer had moderated temperatures, except for an early August heat wave, that sent daytime highs to near and above the Century Mark. Mid August rains followed, moderating days again to cooler than usual for August. When September came, the rainy pattern continued, and stretched to the early and mid part of October. By late October, more clouds than usual stayed around; however, rain amounts began to fall off. As November came, a cloudy and damp fall weather pattern kicked off the month, that came to a halt by November 17th and 18th, when weather patterns shifted to a dry, fall pattern, with more sunny days. This pattern has continued through December.

2003 rainfall was varied, beginning very dry, and then increasing in the summer months and through part of September. By late October, rainfall began to fade. After November 17th, a very dry fall/winter weather pattern settled over the area, and continued through December. For Austin Bergstrom 2003 was the 10th driest year of record, 1943 to 2003, with 23.38 inches of rain. For Austin Mabry 2003 was the 13th driest of record, 1856 to 2003, with 21.43 inches of rain. For San Antonio 2003 was near the middle of all years, however rainfall was slightly below normal. With 28.45 inches of rain, 2003 for San Antonio was the 64th driest year of record or 67 wettest of record, 1871 to 2003. Further west, plentiful rains from late May to the early and mid part of October, produced a different rainfall environment for Del Rio. On the flip side, 2003 was one of Del Rio's wetter years. Abundant late May rains, that continued through the summer, and also from September to the early and mid part of October, helped to make 2003 the 18th wettest year at Del Rio of record, 1906 to 2003. Heavy rains caused flooding in the Del Rio Area on May 27th and October 11th.

January to March

The year 2003 began with several moderately strong cold fronts, mixed in between with warm periods. January was cooler and drier than normal. February was similar to January, with cooler than normal days; however, different in that more precipitation came. February 2003 brought more precipitation to the east part of South Central Texas.  In addition, 2 Arctic Cold Fronts came, and they were accompanied by winter precipitation. The first winter precipitation event was on February 7th and 8th, when light snow, mixed with freezing precipitation was observed. Skies cleared up in the day of Saturday February 8th, followed by warmer days. On February 20th and 21st, occasional rain, heavy at times, came to the eastern part of South Central Texas. The rains of February 20th and 21st were the heaviest rains of the Winter of 2003. After these rains, brief warmer conditions followed in the day of 23rd, with afternoon highs rising well into the 70s. It then turned much colder the night of the 23rd and early morning of the 24th, as temperatures dropped rapidly. The cold continued through the 27th. A combination of freezing drizzle, freezing rain, sleet and some snow affected the area the 24th and 25th. This caused icy roads over parts of the Hill Country, east to Austin and south to the San Antonio Area, and extending east to La Grange. In the late night hours of the 24th and predawn hours of the 25th, thunder accompanied the freezing precipitation. Some freezing drizzle lingered in the early morning of the 26th. Temperatures stayed below freezing in the Austin Area from the 24th to the 26th, when it finally rose above freezing in the day of the 26th.

Lingering late winter and early spring cold fronts kept March 2003 cooler than normal over the eastern parts of South Central Texas; however, over western parts of the area, the shallow cool air modified rapidly, as more sunshine in the day warmed afternoons enough to increase the average March temperature to near and above normal. After a wet February, March 2003 ended up drier than normal over South Central Texas.

April and May

As April came precipitation continued to drop off markedly, and this trend continued until the late part of May, when the precipitation tide began to increase again. April and May of 2003 were among some of the driest of record for the area. The average overall temperature was warmer than normal, particularly after a strong early April cold front.   April 2003 was the 2nd driest April at Austin Bergstrom International Airport since October 1942; a tie with 1892 and 1961 for the 3rd driest April for Austin Mabry since 1856; the 5th driest for San Antonio since 1871; and the 6th driest for Del Rio since December 1905.

A few warm days showed up early in April, followed briefly by cooler days the 8th and 9th, after a strong early April cold front. The rest of the month saw days getting steadily warmer, approaching summer like conditions late in the month. One strong cold front the evening of the 7th brought a brief spell of much cooler weather and caused a late season freeze over some parts of the Texas Hill Country the morning of the 9th. The freeze on April 9th caused damage to the peach crop over the Texas Hill Country. On the other extreme, warm to hot weather the 24th, caused afternoon highs to rise to the 90s, with 100 observed at Laughlin AFB east of Del Rio.

As May came, summer like conditions emerged as days continued to heat up, just like a July and August setting. Precipitation was much below normal; however, late in the Month the tide for precipitation began to turn again. May 2003 was warmer than normal for Central and South Central Texas, finishing as the 3rd warmest May of record at Austin Mabry; a tie with May 1949 as the 3rd warmest May of record at Austin Bergstrom; a tie with May 1927 as the 3rd warmest May of record at Del Rio; and the 4th warmest May of record at San Antonio. May 2003 was also very dry for most areas of Central and South Central Texas, with a few exceptions. It was the driest May of climate record for San Antonio, 1871 to 2003. It was the 3rd driest May of climate record for Austin Bergstrom International Airport, October 1942 to 2003, and a tie with May 1971 for the 23rd driest May of record, 1856 to 2003, for the Austin city climate station, Austin Mabry. Although many areas received much below normal rain in the month, a few spots received downpours that produced flooding, even in an overall dry month. On May 27th an area of thunderstorms dropped up to near 3 to 6.53 inches of rain in the Del Rio Area May 27th. At the Del Rio International Airport 6.53 inches fell in one day on May 27th, with a report of 6.15 inches 1.25 miles away. On the previous day, Del Rio International Airport picked up 0.37 inches of rain. What was to be the driest May of record for Del Rio, ended up the 5th wettest May of record, with 6.90 inches of rain, that fell from May 26th to May 27th.

June through August

When June and July came, more summer showers than usual showed up. The summer rains were more numerous from Del Rio to San Antonio and south. Further north, rainfall amounts were less. As August came, scattered summer showers continued. The summer of 2003 not only had more than usual rain days, it also had several severe weather events. In early to mid June thunderstorms affected the area with strong winds and brief heavy rains from June 2nd to the 5th, in the Del Rio area June 6th, on June 10th, on June 13th, and the night of June 14th to the early morning of June 15th.  On Monday, June 2nd, strong winds from Severe Thunderstorms, were observed in the San Marcos Area, and affected parts of Hays and Caldwell Counties. Strong, damaging winds were observed at the San Marcos Airport.  The June 13th severe weather event brought a line of thunderstorms across the area, with strong downburst winds.  Heavy rains fell over the southeast part of South Central Texas in the evening hours.   From June 24 to the 30th, isolated to widely scattered showers and thunderstorms showed up.

As July came the rainy summer pattern continued. Showers and thunderstorms brought several days of locally heavy rains from July 4th to July 8th. Rains, heavy at times, affected the area July 15th and July 16th, as the remnants of Hurricane Claudette moved over southern parts of South Central Texas. The track of winds and rain was from the east part of the area all the way to the Del Rio area in the early morning hours of July 16th.  As the remnants of Hurricane Claudette moved across South Central Texas, strong winds were observed.  More stable weather followed on the 17th and 18th; however, widely scattered showers and thunderstorms returned around the 22nd and 23rd and continued to around July 30th. The month ended drier and warmer.

The summer of 2003 showed more variability in temperature, than most summers. As June and July temperatures were moderated by summer showers and occasional weak cool front, the last 2 days of July brought warmer days. By early August a heat wave came, sending afternoon highs to near and above the century mark. On August 8th, the high at Austin Mabry was 110, breaking the previous August All Time high of 109 set August 18, 1923. The high of 108 at Austin Bergstrom International Airport on August 8th broke the previous All Time August high of 107 set August 10, 1953. Daily record highs were set August 7 and 8 at both Austin Climate stations. The high of 108 August 7th and 110 August 8th were both daily records at Austin Mabry. The high of 106 August 7th and 108 August 8th were both daily records at Austin Bergstrom International Airport. The high of 100 August 6th at Austin Bergstrom was the first 100 degree day of 2003. These daily highs, although records for August, did not exceed the All-Time highs set in early September 2000.

At Del Rio, the high of 105 on August 8, 2003 tied the daily record high of 105 for August 8th, previously set August 8, 1953. On Saturday, August 9th, the high at Del Rio was 108, breaking the previous record high for August 8th of 107 set in 1953. The All Time August high for Del Rio was 109 on August 17, 1969.

At San Antonio, the high of 103 on August 8th, was 1 degree lower than the record high for August 8th of 104 set August 8, 1953. The All Time August high for San Antonio was 108 on August 19, 1986. The high of 101 August 7th at San Antonio was the first 100 degree day of 2003. On Saturday, August 9th, the high at San Antonio was 100, 6 degrees below the record August 9th high of 106 set in 1953.

After the hot afternoon temperatures of August 8th, showers and thunderstorms developed in the mid to late afternoon, and brought strong downburst winds along and east of a Georgetown to Fredericksburg to San Antonio to Gonzales to Hallettsville Line.  Temperatures dropped very quickly from near 100 to the 70s in periods of rain, heavy at times, as the thunderstorms moved from northwest to southeast across the area.  Showers and thunderstorms increased after August 8th and continued to the mid part of August. This moderated daytime highs again to below normal.  On Monday, August 11th, severe thunderstorms affected the area in the late afternoon and evening, causing strong winds. Strong, damaging winds affected the Austin and Castroville Areas. Scattered showers and thunderstorms continued to affect the area from Tuesday, August 12th to Thursday, August 14th. Austin Mabry received 2.00 inches of rain on Wednesday, August 13th. Widely scattered showers and thunderstorms showed up on Saturday the 16th. Although showers and thunderstorms decreased on and after the 17th, they returned again on the last day of August. This was the start of a rainy pattern that extended into September.

September

October 2003 ended up a month varying from dry, fall weather with cool nights to mild days to periods of unseasonably warm and humid days. The first half of October 2003 brought several rain events. The most widespread and heaviest rain came Saturday the 11th, when Del Rio picked up 3.23 inches of rain. Some areas over Dimmit, Zavala, and Bandera counties had near 4 to near 5 inches of rain, the weekend of the 11th and 12th. The October 11th and 12th rains, were heavy at times, and caused some flooding in the Del Rio area and over the west and southwest part of South Central Texas.  By the mid and late part of October there was more cloudy days, than usual, showed up; however, rainfall became lighter.  October 2003 ended on a rather warm note. On Halloween, afternoon highs in the maritime tropical air mass Friday the 31st were mostly in the upper 80s, with a few locations having a high of 90. It was not only 90 at Austin Mabry on Friday, October 31st, as highs of 90 were also observed at Georgetown and at New Braunfels.

November and December

When November came, one heavy rain event formed. An area of heavy rains showed up November 16th and 17th over parts of Karnes, Dewitt and Lavaca Counties. November 2003 was overall warmer and drier than normal for South Central Texas, except for parts of Lavaca, Dewitt, and Karnes Counties where heavy rains on November 16 and 17 made November wetter than normal. Extremes in weather increased dramatically in November 2003. As November came, the cold fronts in the early part of the month brought a few cold days. The early to mid part of November was cloudier than usual. By the mid part of November the tide changed quickly.  On November 17th, the weather patterns shifted to a dry, cool fall pattern, with more sunny days and much less rainfall, as cold fronts began to sweep across the area from the west and northwest. This trend continued not only through late November, also through December.  From late November 16th to November 17th, scattered showers and thunderstorms affected the area.. Very heavy rains fell over the southeast part of south Central Texas late November 16th and again on November 17th. Scattered showers and thunderstorms formed over the west and north part of the area in the morning of the 17th, and moved east during the day. The wet pattern ended quickly by late in the night of the 17th and in the early morning of the 18th, as dry air and clear skies came in rapidly from the west.