I mean, seriously, this is like the rain version of “Groundhog Day.” I wish I had better news for you tonight, but unfortunately, today’s rain was merely Act I for the Houston area. We have some serious concerns going into tomorrow, and I’ll touch on those here in a second.
WHAT FELL?
Rainfall totals were very sporadic across the region, but they hit hardest in the worst possible places: The Woodlands, Spring, and Northern Harris County, places that simply can’t handle much water after last weekend.
Rainfall through 9:45 PM Wednesday evening. (Harris County Flood Control)
This inevitably led to widespread street flooding. That sort of flooding was worse than usual because it fell so fast (3-4″ in an hour in spots), and it overwhelmed drainage systems.
Area-wide view of radar estimated rainfall today. (GRLevel3)
So far, Memorial Day weekend has been exactly what the doctor ordered for our area. At least we’ve been able to allow the river systems to move their water without adding new rain. Our window is slowly closing however. The good news is that the rain today looks relatively minor and no new issues are expected.
After back to back days of misery for many in the Houston area once again, we *may* finally have a quieter day (or more) to exhale here. Today looks drier and calmer. Unfortunately, we still have residual problems to discuss and more storms down the road. But for now, let’s revel in the goodness of dry weather. Read on for the latest.
I guess maybe this is round 3? 4? I’ve lost count. Either way, another slow moving, training area of heavy 1-2″ per hour rainfall continues north and west of Houston this afternoon. The radar as of 4 PM looks like this:
4 PM radar shows heavy rain and thunderstorms sliding south and east into Houston (GR Level 3).
For most of the afternoon, this has been slow to move. While it’s still crawling, the heaviest rainfall is actually showing signs of progress south and east. For those of you looking to get a jump start on getting out of town for Memorial Day Weekend, I suggest you hang tight. Heavy rain is arriving in Downtown Houston as I write this, and areas south and east of the city, largely spared this week, will see heavy rain and thunder as well this evening.
Up north, it’s a disaster in spots, with another 3-6″ falling in the Spring Creek Basin, including The Woodlands and surrounding areas. This has forced Spring Creek to near or above record levels at both FM 2978 and Highway 249, higher than Tax Day by one foot or more.
Afternoon rainfall through 4 PM. (Harris County Flood Control)
The rain should begin to taper off through early evening up that way thankfully. Heavy rains will march south and east, and if the latest HRRR model is to be believed, they’ll be offshore by late evening. Fingers crossed.
HRRR model forecast through evening shows rain finally, mercifully pushing offshore and ending. (Weather Bell)
We’ll have an update on the rest of the weekend in the morning (I’ll be active on Twitter through evening), but I think it can only get better from here. Be safe, be smart, never drive through flooded roadways, and take your time if you absolutely have to travel this evening around Southeast Texas.
