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.
Rain gauges don’t lie. They’re hyping up this 40% chance of a stray shower as a high risk severe storm doomsday. Majority of the time they do this it barely rains. It’s not going to rain for most of the area again today.
Nobody here thinks stage 1 is doomsday. There are lots of intersections near me that flood during heavy rain events, so I appreciate the heads up.
Did you not read the article? It says it won’t be bad but there might be heavier pockets that might back up streets. They just want to give visibility of the situation and raise awareness to be cautious when driving.
Some people see a Stage 1 flood threat and, for some reason, interpret that as another Harvey flood coming. Not sure why.
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.
Thank you, LLL for saying what the rest of us were thinking.
Eric and Matt are the antithesis of doom casters.
Not complaining about the rain, but easy does it!
Thank you spacecityweather PEEPS for what you do to keep us informed and HTOWN safe.
Can we ever have nice peaceful rain? Why in Gods name is it ALWAYS severe / strong thunderstorms? Every single time thats all it ever is.
Thanks for the heads up!! As a golfer and yard owner I will never complain about the rain!