Patricia’s remnants now moving on, rains should end later today

It was a wet, soggy night in Houston. Several bayous briefly topped their banks, including White Oak near downtown. Several dozen streets flooded. But all in all, for a rain storm that generally dumped 5 to 10 inches across the Houston metro area, most people managed to come through really well.

Only light to moderate rain is falling on Houston this morning as of 10 a.m., and this should come to an end from west to east between noon and about 6 p.m.

As the rains have ebbed this morning the number of road closures has fallen to seven, so it should generally be safe to be out and about later today if necessary.

Although rains during the last two days have been a major inconvenience for map people, that have sapped a severe drought that had been developing over much of Texas. (NOAA)
Although rains during the last two days have been a major inconvenience for map people, that have sapped a severe drought that had been developing over much of Texas. (NOAA)

 

For the Houston metro area the most significant issues are along the coast, where the remnants of Patricia are kicking up high strong rip tides and pushing water over low-lying areas such as Bolivar Peninsula. Winds are strong too, gusting to over 45 mph along the coast in places like Galveston.

You can still see Patricia’s remnants, off the Texas coast, in this map of surface winds at 10 a.m. this morning. That’s why it’s quite windy.

The remnants of Patricia are still creating a fairly strong wind field. (earth.nullschool)
The remnants of Patricia are still creating a fairly strong wind field. (earth.nullschool)

 

But even so, the storm is moving off to the east-northeast, and drier air will move into Houston later today. And while winds will remain blustery today and Monday (we’re under a wind advisory until 7 a.m. Monday), they’ll slowly ease off.

By Monday that cool front will continue to usher in seasonable weather, and for most of the coming week we’ll see highs around 80 degrees and lows around 60, and beginning late on Monday or Tuesday, a lot of sunshine.

So dry out as best you can today and tomorrow, and then enjoy what should be a pretty nice fall week.

Posted at 10:10 a.m.

9 thoughts on “Patricia’s remnants now moving on, rains should end later today”

  5. great work Eric, I can’t tell you how many people I turned on to your blog and FB page during this event.

  6. Thank you for the weekend work, Eric… Kudos for the commitment it takes to divert time that might be needed to take care of your own concerns… Here’s my question : why did we come through this event unscathed? I saw a story in the Times on the same issue with respect to Mexico… Was this storm just not such a big deal after all, or did the fact that it occurred on a weekend matter? Or – and this is what I’m really interested in – have Houstonians learned their lesson about treating storms as potential disasters rather than entertainment events?

    • The main reason is that rainfall rates never exceeded about 1.25 inches an hour. Had we gotten to 3 or 4 inches an hour that would have overwhelmed bayous. But that fortunately never happened. I don’t have a good reason why, because there was definitely the potential for that kind of rain.

  7. Thanks for giving us the real scoop on this weekend, Eric.

    While the TV media didn’t try to frighten people this time, it was clear by Saturday night and this morning that they were desperate for stories to fill their extended coverage (often including two meteorologists per team). One station rushed out to Dickinson to cover a tree that fell over and hit a house, several had their reporters in ankle deep water (including Sally MacDonald walking a little too close to an overflowing storm sewer for safety).

    Anyway, much needed rain for the yard and a good excuse for me to spend the weekend watching college football and the NHL.

    Notice how I didn’t say the Texans…..

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