Very strong thunderstorms are moving through Houston this morning, and as of 5:30 a.m. as much as 1 to 6 inches of rain have already fallen. This is producing some street flooding, but so far bayous have largely remained within their banks.
The first round of storms has now largely moved off to the east, but another significant line of showers is coming in from the west. They will likely arrive in western Harris County by about 6:30 a.m.
These thunderstorms are capable of producing rainfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour, but the good news is that they are generally progressing. This means the heaviest rain should move through before noon. These storms could test some bayous before then, however.
As I have been saying, outdoor activities on Saturday morning are highly discouraged. Many streets are flooding, there have been multiple tornado warnings in the southeast part of the city, and more storms are on the way. According to Harris County sources, there is extensive damage around Danbury and Friendswood, and possible injuries at a mobile home park in Brazoria County. There have also been reports of a tornado in Pasadena. Some 25,000 Reliant customers are without power.
We still should see a clearing pattern throughout the day, with rains ending by afternoon or early evening for most areas.
Posted at 5:45 a.m. Saturday
Thanks for getting up early to help us Eric.
I’ll be here until the power gives out on my laptop!
Thanks for the great updates. I live in Alvin, and I swear I heard some sirens (sounded like a tornado siren) going off around 5:45 a.m. My husband said that Alvin doesn’t have those kind of warning sirens, so it must have been something else. I’ve been scouring the Internet trying to find out who’s right, with no luck. Would you happen to know? It seems to correlate with reports of tornadic activity.
I don’t know for certain, but a number of communities around Houston do have tornado siren warnings, and the time would have been about right for a tornado near Alvin.
I was supposed to be at work at 6am. As I made my way down my street I could barely see through the rain and noticed a pickup truck backing up. Luckily he warned me that it was too deep to get through otherwise I probably would’ve driven right into it. I am not going to attempt to try to get in until it gets light and I can see better what is going on.
so Brays at s main has a a flood stage at 45.1 and has risen from 17 to 40. think it will hold? i’m concerned with a 5 ft margin but don’t have an appreciation for what is coming?
We have some houses in Westbury that have flooded. Unsure of how many homes or how much water . Good news is the streets have completely receded. Waiting for round two.
Not to bad here by Ellington, though I think I know why I woke up just before 4 AM – a couple of big wind gusts.
2.6 inches of rain in the gauge.