May 2003 was warmer than normal for parts of 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, from May 26th to May 27th. Also in May, on Monday, May 12th, near 2 to near 4 and a half inches of rain fell near Cedar Park and Round Rock in Williamson County, producing street flooding in the early afternoon. In the early morning hours of May 26th, 1 to 3 inch rains fell over parts of Gillespie, Llano, Burnet, and Williamson Counties. The rest of the rainfall universe for most of the area in May 2003 was very dry as mentioned above.

May 2003 began as a mostly cloudy day on the Thursday the 1st. On the 2nd, clouds broke up more in the afternoon, and by evening an area of thunderstorms affected the northern part of the hill country over parts of Llano and Burnet Counties. In the early evening of Friday, May 2nd, 1.75 inch hail was reported 3 miles northwest of Llano; 1 inch hail 10 miles northwest of Llano, and 0.75 inch hail at Llano. On Saturday the 3rd, a cloudy morning with patchy drizzle ended up a partly cloudy, warm and humid afternoon, as widely scattered showers and thunderstorms again affected the northern part of the hill country. Some of the lingering showers drifted south after midnight the 3rd, to become isolated showers over parts of the hill country, Sunday morning the 4th. By sunrise on the 4th, isolated showers passed near to north of Del Rio. The afternoon became partly cloudy with warmer conditions.

By Monday the 5th, much more humid conditions reminiscent of Summer came, along with warm nights to hot afternoons. Rather warm afternoon highs came the 5th, with Del Rio making it to 102 for the high, while further east 90s prevailed. In addition, haze began to increase over the area the 5th. By the following day on the 6th, a mostly cloudy morning became more unstable around and after sunrise as widely scattered thunderstorms formed over parts of Kendall and Kerr County and moved northeast around 7 to 730 am. The showers and thunderstorms increased during the morning to early afternoon over the hill country and east to the Austin area. Around 2 pm on the 6th, 1 inch hail was reported 2 miles north of Elgin in Travis County. Isolated showers affected the San Antonio area in the late morning and early afternoon. By the late afternoon the shower activity began to move away, as the hot May sun emerged.

On Wednesday the 7th to the 10th, cloudy mornings gave way to hazy and partly sunny afternoons, with temperatures running 5 to 10 degrees above normal for early May. On Sunday the 11th, a cool front came through the area in the morning. For a May setting extremely limited showers and rain formed on the front, in a very stable environment. Isolated showers, light rain, and drizzle were observed from parts of the hill country east to Austin and parts of Fayette County, and south to San Antonio, Pleasanton, Karnes City, and parts of Dewitt and Lavaca Counties. The cool front did keep daytime highs in the 80s, with 90s showing up further west. The weather of Sunday the 11th was similar to Sunday, April 20th, 3 weeks earlier, with a cool front coming into the area with limited rain. On Monday, May 12th, more unstable conditions showed up around and after sunrise, as Sunday's cool front went north as a warm front, and a weak upper air disturbance went over the area. After sunrise widely scattered showers and thunderstorms broke out from south and southwest of San Antonio to west and south of Austin. Very heavy rains later in the morning and in the early afternoon formed over Williamson County, from near Cedar Park to Round Rock. Dime size hail was reported from the thunderstorms 3 miles southwest of Round Rock in Williamson County around 1130 AM. The showers and thunderstorms also affected parts of Lee and Northern Fayette County in the afternoon.

By the 14th to the 19th, afternoon highs warmed up to not only summertime levels, also some daily records were set. Del Rio reached 106 on Friday the 16th, with Carrizo Springs not far away with 105. Extremely hot days at Del Rio has shown up in May for the past 5 years, beginning in 1998. On May 5, 1998 the high was 105, and on May 6, 1998 and May 31, 1998 Del Rio's high was 106. In May of 2000, Del Rio broke an all-time May record high of 109 on May 24, 2000. In the same year, Del Rio made it to 105 May 12, 2000 and also 105 May 23, 2000. On May 17, 2001 Del Rio reached 101, and this was again reached May 17, 2003. In May 2002, Del Rio reached extremely hot daily record highs of 104 May 1st, and 105 May 2nd. On May 14th and 15th, severe weather and thunderstorms stayed north of South Central Texas. A few showers and thunderstorms got close to Del Rio in the early evening of the 15th. As a mild Pacific cool front came through the area, on the evening and night of the 16th/17th, widely scattered thunderstorms affected the far northeast and eastern parts of South Central Texas. At 1115 pm Marble Size hail was reported near Giddings in Lee County, and thunderstorms that moved over Lee County caused some wind damage. The thunderstorms continued moving east to parts of Fayette County, where 0.75 inch hail was reported at La Grange at 1155 PM. In the day of Saturday the 17th, the weak Pacific cool front left drier air over the area and took the maritime haze away. What little cool characteristics that this front had were quickly lost under the high May sub-tropical sun, that is just as intense as in late July. Dry and warm days continued the 18th and 19th.

The first 19 days of May were very warm and dry. The average temperature was closer to what normally happens in June. The average temperature and rain for May 1st to 19th, 2003 was as follows. Austin Mabry 81.1 degrees, 7.3 degrees above normal, and rainfall was 0.60 inches, 2.39 inches below normal. Austin Bergstrom International Airport 80.3 degrees, 6.1 degrees above normal, and rainfall was 0.47 inches, 2.61 inches below normal. Del Rio 85.1 degrees, 8.6 degrees above normal, and rainfall was a trace, 1.35 inches below normal. San Antonio 81.4 degrees, 6.9 degrees above normal, and rainfall was 0.06 inches, 2.68 inches below normal.

On May 20th, cooler weather came as a cold front swept across Central and South Central Texas in the morning, making the day 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the day before. Mostly cloudy skies followed on the 21st, then the clouds began to thin out late in the afternoon. On Thursday the 21st, scattered thunderstorms, some severe broke out over the southwest part of South Central Texas. The strongest storms were over parts of Zavala County.

On Friday the 23rd, mostly sunny skies returned, with afternoon highs in the 90s. The stretch of dry days continued the 24th in the day. Widely scattered showers and thunderstorms formed the evening of the 24th and then moved in the night over parts of the Texas Hill Country. Mostly light rain amounts were observed. This ended abruptly in the evening of the 25th, as much heavier areas of rain moved in from the west. Late Sunday night the 25th and early Monday morning the 26th, scattered 1 to 2.21 inch rains moved in from the west. The heavy rains affected northern Val Verde County, Edwards, Real, Bandera, Kerr, Kendall, Gillespie, Llano, Burnet, and Blanco Counties in the early morning of Monday May 26th. As the showers moved east, parts of the Austin Area picked up rain, and light rain fell in the San Antonio Area.

Then came bigger rains and flooding on Tuesday May 27th. The rainfall tide turned abruptly May 26th and 27th for the Del Rio area, as extreme dry turned to extreme wet, a common characteristic in the modified subtropical climate over South Central Texas. The upper level low that helped spark rains and thunderstorms over parts of West Texas Saturday night the 24th, became nearly stationary over northeast Mexico in the early morning of the 27th. A cool front moved across the area in the day and evening of the 26th, and continued to move southward in the early morning of Tuesday, May 27th. In wake of the late May cool front and associated with the slow moving low aloft to the southwest, very heavy rain formed in the early morning of the 27th. Initially the rains were north of Val Verde, Edwards and Real County. By sunrise, showers and thunderstorms formed quickly over parts of Val Verde County, and the rain just kept forming and reforming all day, dropping 6.53 inches of rain at the Del Rio International Airport. What was one of the 10 driest Mays of record for Del Rio abruptly became the 5th wettest of record for Del Rio, with 6.90 inches of rain for May 2003. A recent turnaround for rainfall in the Del Rio area came in August 1998, when extreme dry turned to flood from the affects of Tropical Strom Charley. On August 23rd, 1998, 17.03 inches of rain was observed in Del Rio. A turnaround for rainfall further east over parts of the hill country and South Central Texas came last year in late June and July of 2002. Looking further back in history shows that short term heavy rain events have popped up in even long term dry periods. In the 1950s, during a long dry period, the remnants of Hurricane Alice produced heavy rains in the Del Rio Area and adjacent parts of the Rio Grande Basin in the Summer of 1954.

As the low aloft over northeast Mexico began to move southwest away form South Central Texas, and an upper level ridge of high pressure reformed over the area the 28th and 29th, dry and hot days returned and continued through the 30th and 31st, in a pattern similar to May 16th and 17th, just 2 weeks earlier. The surge of slightly cooler air that filtered over the area in the day of the 28th and night of the 28th to early morning of the 29th, modified rapidly in the day of Thursday, May 29th, under the high late May sun, and subsidence from the high aloft. On May 30th, afternoon highs hit the century mark in the Austin Area for the first time in 2003, as the high rose to 100 at Austin Bergstrom International Airport and to 101 at Austin Mabry. The extremes in temperatures for the month of May 2003 at Austin Bergstrom, Austin Mabry, and San Antonio were just 1 day apart. Austin Bergstrom had the May 2003 low of 54 the 29th and May 2003 high of 100 the 30th. Austin Mabry had the May 2003 low of 60 the 29th and May 2003 high of 101 the 30th. San Antonio had the May 2003 low of 61 the 29th and May 2003 high of 98 the 30th, and 98 was also observed at San Antonio on the 19th. The sunny and hot conditions on Friday the 30th, continued on Saturday the 31st. Afternoon highs were a little more moderated in the Del Rio Area the last 6 days of the month, from the affects of locally heavy rains there on May 26th and May 27th.

The list below shows the listing of May rainfall...the 10 driest for Austin and San Antonio and the 10 wettest for Del Rio.

AUSTIN MABRY/MUELLER/CITY 1856 TO 2003

DRIEST MAYS...

 1. MAY 1856...TRACE
 2. MAY 1860...0.13 INCHES
 3. MAY 1865...0.17 INCHES
 4. MAY 1883...0.53 INCHES
 5. MAY 1931...0.58 INCHES
 6. MAY 1891...0.70 INCHES
 7. MAY 1998...0.73 INCHES
 8. MAY 1960...0.81 INCHES
 9. MAY 1949...0.83 INCHES
10. MAY 1912...0.84 INCHES

23. MAY 1971...1.37 INCHES
23. MAY 2003 SO FAR...MAY 1ST TO 28TH...1.37 INCHES

AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT OCTOBER 1942 TO 2003

DRIEST MAYS...

 1. MAY 1949...0.28 INCHES
 2. MAY 1963...0.32 INCHES
 3. MAY 2003...0.51 INCHES
 4. MAY 1998...0.61 INCHES
 5. MAY 1973...0.83 INCHES
 6. MAY 1947 AND 2002...0.90 INCHES
 7. MAY 1960...0.98 INCHES
 8. MAY 1964...1.03 INCHES
 9. MAY 1977...1.04 INCHES
10. MAY 1945...1.10 INCHES

SAN ANTONIO 1871 TO 2003

DRIEST MAYS...

 1. MAY 2003...0.12 INCHES
 2. MAY 1961...0.17 INCHES
 3. MAY 1983...0.29 INCHES
 4. MAY 1989...0.33 INCHES
 5. MAY 1998...0.34 INCHES
 6. MAY 1988...0.41 INCHES 
 7. MAY 1875...0.48 INCHES
 8. MAY 1889...0.55 INCHES
 9. MAY 1877...0.56 INCHES
10. MAY 1879...0.61 INCHES


DEL RIO DECEMBER 1905 TO 2003

WETTEST MAYS...

 1. MAY 1957...10.23 INCHES
 2. MAY 1914....8.91 INCHES
 3. MAY 1925....7.99 INCHES
 4. MAY 1995....7.33 INCHES
 5. MAY 2003....6.90 INCHES
 6. MAY 1958....6.17 INCHES
 7. MAY 1931....6.10 INCHES
 8. MAY 1997....5.66 INCHES
 9. MAY 1980....5.15 INCHES
10. MAY 1918....5.10 INCHES