April 2003 was mostly warmer and much drier than normal over Central and South Central Texas. Fall and Winter Rains helped to bring about a good display of wildflowers early in April, while most vegetation was green. As April continued with the lack of significant rains, wild vegetation changed from greens to less green and to a mix of golden brown and green by the end of the month. As late winter rains began to wane, the trend continued through March and increased in April. April 2003 was not only drier than normal, it was one of the driest Aprils since the 1850's in the Austin Area, since the 1870s in the San Antonio Area and since 1905 in Del Rio. 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/Mueller/City 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; however, as the month went on the intensity of warm to hot afternoons increased rapidly, a trend for April that has showed up since 1998. 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.

On April 1st, mostly clear skies prevailed in wake of a cold front. The clear and dry weather continued through Wednesday the 2nd. Moisture and clouds returned briefly the night of the 2nd to early morning of the 3rd, then mixed out to mostly sunny in the daytime of the 3rd. On Friday April 4th very warm weather came, as a dry line moved across the area from the west and then stalled east of Austin and San Antonio. Afternoon highs warmed to mostly mid 80s over eastern parts of South Central Texas to lower 90s over west parts of South Central Texas near the Rio Grande. Moisture surged back rapidly from the southeast late Friday night the 4th and early Saturday morning the 5th. Clear skies rapidly became cloudy and foggy over eastern parts of South Central Texas, with areas of dense fog and drizzle from Austin to San Antonio in the pre dawn hours of Saturday April 5th. The fog lifted rapidly Saturday morning, with partly cloudy skies following in the afternoon. Cloud cover returned the night of the 5th to early morning of the 6th, as light rain fell over parts of the hill country and adjacent parts of Central and South Central Texas. Skies cleared in the afternoon, as highs move up to the mid 80s to near 90 these. The rather warm early April days were only a sample of the warmer days to come later.

A brief spell of cooler weather came the 8th to the 11th. Clouds returned on Monday the 7th, as isolated thunderstorms formed Monday the 7th, ahead of a strong upper level disturbance and brisk early April cold Front. The cold front came across the Texas Hill Country and parts of Central Texas in the early evening, and moved across the rest of South Central Texas the night of the 7th and early morning of the 8th. As the cold front came through, northerly winds near 20 to near 30 mph was observed. On Tuesday the 8th, afternoon highs were 12 to 18 degrees cooler than the day before. The coldest early morning lows for most places of April came the 9th, as northerly winds died down and became light the night of the 8th and early morning of Wednesday the 9th. Lows fell to near and at freezing over parts of the Texas Hill Country, with lows in the mid 30s to near 40 over the remainder of South Central Texas. Some of the lows of the 9th were as follows: Junction 27; Camp Wood, 10 miles west of Hunt, and Johnson City 31; Kerrville Airport 32; Harper 32; Austin Bergstrom International Airport 33; New Braunfels Municipal Airport 35; Fredricksburg Airport 36; San Antonio and San Marcos 37; Del Rio 39; and Austin Mabry 40. Chilly early morning lows followed on the 10th, with Georgetown getting to 34, 2 degrees colder than the 36 degree low the day before and San Marcos had 37, the same low as the 9th. Lagrange observed 39 the 10th, the same as 39 on the 9th. Most of the other locations had slightly higher minimums the 10th. The strong cold front and upper level disturbance late the 7th and early the morning of the 8th, brought a long stretch of sunny days and mostly clear nights that lasted from the 8th all the way to the 14th.

Cloudiness, climatologically typical of April, came back as moisture appeared again late the 14th and early the 15th. The area missed a rain event again the night of the 15th and early morning of the 16th, as another weather system passed well to the northwest to north of the region. Only light amounts of precipitation fell in the early morning of the 16th. As this weather system moved away, clearing skies in the day of 16th and warm air coming from the west once again, made for a warm afternoon. Highs on the 16th rose to 90s over west parts of the area to near 90 to lower 90s over the eastern parts of South Central Texas. More humidity and morning clouds moderated afternoons some on the 17th to the 18th. In the evening of Friday the 18th, isolated showers and thunderstorms affected parts of Val Verde and Edwards Counties. At 935 PM 0.88 inch hail was reported 9 miles Southwest of Juno in Val Verde County. Ahead of a strong Rocky Mountain Spring Weather System on Saturday the 19th, brisk southerly winds prevailed over South and Central Texas, bringing a lot of humidity and thick cloud cover. The clouds remained over the eastern parts of South Central Texas all day Saturday the 19th, while further west near Eagle Pass, Del Rio, Rocksprings, and parts of the Hill Country, the dry line moved east, allowing partly cloudy to sunny skies to emerge. On Sunday the 20th, a cold front managed to move over Central and South Central Texas in the morning, initially bringing strong northerly winds that died down in the later afternoon and evening. Cloud cover briefly thinned out over west parts of the area, where sunshine; drier air; and the shallow cool air mixed into warmer conditions above the surface. Afternoon highs rose to 88 at Del Rio, while further east where clouds and the shallow cool air linger, low to mid 70s prevailed. On Monday the 21st, skies cleared up in wake of another upper air disturbance that moved north of the area, allowing for a sunny afternoon and pleasant conditions. Another weather system approached quickly from the west the 21st; therefore, clouds returned the night of the 21st and morning of the 22nd. Cloudy days prevailed the day of the 22nd and 23rd, as a strong spring weather system moved across North Texas. Severe thunderstorms formed over parts of Edwards County late in the afternoon of the 23rd. The thunderstorms moved east and caused 1.75 inch hail near Ingram in Kerr County around 630 PM. Areas of showers and light rain followed the night of the 23rd and after midnight the 24th over mainly northern parts of South Central Texas. By early morning the 25th, isolated showers and thunderstorms formed over the east part of South Central Texas. Some of the thunderstorms became severe in Caldwell County, where 0.75 inch hail was reported at Macmahan at 705 am, and also in Fayette County, where 1.50 inch hail was observed at Muldoon at 745 am.

In wake of the strong spring weather system later in the morning of the 24th, clear skies followed along with very warm air coming from the west on Thursday the 24th. It was by far area wide the warmest day of the year for April, as afternoon highs rose to the 90s in most areas. The hottest reading came in at 100 at Laughlin AFB east of Del Rio. The highs of 96 at Austin Mabry and 94 at Austin Bergstrom, were record highs for both of the official Austin Climate Stations for April 24th. On the 25th and 26th, clear skies prevailed, with highs in the 90s over west parts of South Central Texas with upper 80s over east parts of the area.

On the 27th to the 29th, widely scattered thunderstorms affected parts of Val Verde County in the evening to late night hours. The strongest area of showers and thunderstorms made their way across the area late the night of the 27th and in the early morning hours of the 28th. In the late night hours of the 28th and early morning hours of the 29th and also late night of the 29th and early morning of the 30th, widely scattered thunderstorms came close to the area; however most activity continued to stay north of Central and South Central Texas. In the evening of the 29th, widely scattered thunderstorms did affect western Val Verde, southern Maverick and southern Dimmit Counties. On the last day of the month, morning clouds mixed out to partly cloudy to mostly sunny condiitons in the afternoon, in wake of an upper level disturbance that moveed north and then northeast of the area.