In brief: Good afternoon. Matt and I have seen enough data to put a Stage 1 flood alert into place beginning today, and to remain place until further notice. In truth we can probably expire it Wednesday or Thursday, but we want to see how the pattern evolves before setting an end date.
Essentially, with high pressure having departed, the region now lies open to a series of disturbances that will bring rounds of showers into the region for much of this week. The first of these can be expected later this afternoon and into the early evening, and the next one after that by either late morning on Tuesday or into the early afternoon. Then we will continue to see the potential for additional rounds of showers, thunderstorms, and potentially severe weather (perhaps hail) for a couple of more days.
The threat level here is not super high. But with this Stage 1 flood alert we want to call attention to the possibility of intermittent heavy rainfall that may briefly back up streets and lead to some mobility issues. Not everywhere is going to see rain every day, or as every round passes through. However, with each passing system there are likely to be some pockets of heavier rain, and we want you to take a little extra time and care in such storms.
We will, of course, have a comprehensive update on all of this Tuesday morning.
Fully expecting this to dissipate and be nothing like it always seems to be.
I hope so
Eric and Matt, is it roughly correct that a Memorial Day Flood storm, coupled with the same antecedent conditions would have the same outcome? Or has the Houston Metro drainage situation changed since that 2015 event?
It would likely be the same outcome because there really isn’t a way to prevent flooding when an extreme amount of rain falls in a very short period, especially in an urban concrete jungle. Now, improved drainage infrastructure can help floodwaters run off more quickly, but it cannot prevent floods outright.
Not complaining about the rain, but easy does it!