Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Prospects for Flood Relief/Rain Totals Houston Area

HURRICANES AND WEATHER
The focal point for storms in Texas early this evening has been north of Houston. One tornado was confirmed in Robertson, Texas.

On Wednesday, look for storms from Texas to Illinois. Some showers and/or thunderstorms are also possible around DC, New York, Norfolk, Boston and in South Dakota, the northern Rockies and the Pacific Northwest. It will be cool over the northern Rockies with highs in the 30s and 40s. It will be pleasantly cool in New England and along the west coast with highs in the 50s and 60s. Lots of 80s across the southern states and muggy conditions from Texas through the southeast.

Houston is cringing at the thought of more rain. Overnight, there was over 10 inches in Jersey Village (a suburb northwest of Houston)! Houston has lots of bayous and creeks and there are rivers east and west of the city. I can tell you from driving to the medical center this morning, that Brays Bayou was way up and looked quite angry. (Yes...it was Brays Bayou, not Buffalo Bayou as I mistakenly said in a previous post). Anyway, what a mess! The AND MORE section has a list of rain totals for the 24 hour period ending early this morning. But for those of you around Clear Creek to the southeast of Houston, I checked the total rain for the week, and you had about 9 inches! So, basically the entire area is quite saturated.

Jet stream will start to flatten on Thursday...that will help us get out of the line of fire for these disturbances. Still have to get through Wednesday and early Thursday as there is still some troughiness over W. Texas/New Mexico and Houston is downstream from that slingshot. There is lots of moisture in the air and leftover boundaries from previous storms could be just enough to create more heavy downpours. Still, I think we are in much better shape prospect wise than we were 24 hours ago. Jet stream dips a bit late in the weekend...enough that Sunday could bring another round of storms. Stay tuned!

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AND MORE
To see rainfall totals from the Harris County Office of Emergency Management (and you can specify different time periods), click on this link:
http://www.hcoem.org/HCRainfall.aspx

The following information (issued at 9 am this Tuesday morning) was taken from the National Weather Service web site for Houston/Galveston:

SOME LOCATIONS IN AND AROUND THE HOUSTON AREA EXPERIENCED ANOTHER HEAVYRAIN EVENT OVERNIGHT...THE THIRD SUCH EVENT IN THE PAST TWELVE DAYS.BETWEEN 7 AND 11 INCHES HAVE FALLEN ACROSS A LARGE PORTION OF WESTERNHARRIS COUNTY. LOCATIONS ACROSS SOUTHEAST HOUSTON WERE NOT LEFT OUTOF THIS HEAVY RAIN EVENT AS HOUSTON HOBBY AIRPORT CONTINUES TO ADD TOTHEIR RECORD BREAKING MONTHLY RAINFALL TOTAL FOR APRIL. THROUGH THISMORNING...HOBBY AIRPORT`S APRIL RAINFALL TOTAL STANDS AT 15.57 INCHES.BEFORE 2009...THE WETTEST APRIL WAS IN 1973 WHEN 10.49 INCHES OF RAINWAS RECORDED.THE FOLLOWING ARE AREA 24 HOUR RAINFALL TOTALS ENDING ABOUT 700 AMCDT THIS MORNING.

JERSEY VILLAGE 6.2 W 10.13
BUNKER HILL VILL 3.6 NNW 9.74
HOU-BUFFALO BYU @ WEST BELT DR 9.41
HOU - SPRING BRANCH @ BINGLE 8.07
HOCKLEY-CYPRESS CK @ SHARP RD 7.96
HOU-BUFFALO BAYOU @ SAN FELIPE 7.67
TOMBALL 6.2 W 7.48
HOU - LITTLE CYPRESS @ KLUGE 7.44
HOCKLEY - CYPRESS CREEK 7.36
MISSION BEND 1.4 N 7.19
KATY 6.95
HOUSTON HEIGHTS 5.91
HOU-IH 10 @ UPRR BRIDGE 5.91
JERSEY VILLAGE-WHITE OAK BAYOU 5.63
BUFFALO BAYOU NEAR KATY 5.47
HOU-BRICKHOUSE @ COSTA RICA 5.35
HOU-KEEGANS BAYOU@KEEGANS RD 5.20
HOU - COLE CREEK AT DIEHL DR 5.11
HILSHIRE VILLAGE 1 SE 5.00
TOMBALL 0.6 W 4.90
CYPRESS-CYPRESS CK@STEUBNER RD 4.68
SOUTHSIDE PLACE 0.2 W 4.61
HOU-WHITE OAK BAYOU @ ELLA RD 4.60
HOU-IH 10 NR WASHINGTON AVE 4.45
HOU-BRAYS BAYOU @ RICE AVE 4.29
HOU - VOGEL CK @ GULF BANK RD 4.09
SPRING - PANTHER BRANCH 3.92
NEW CANEY 2 E 3.80
CONROE 3.78
THE WOODLANDS-PANTHER BRANCH 3.66
HOU-WHITE OAK BAYOU @ PINEMONT 3.58
HOU-BRAYS BAYOU @ STELLA LINK 3.54
KINGWOOD 1.8 E 3.33
HOUSTON 13 NE 3.33
WALLER-SPRING CK @ HEGAR RD 3.31
HOU-LITTLE MOUND CK@BETKA RD 3.31
BUFFALO BYU @ SHEPHERD DR-HOU 3.23
CLEVELAND 2 S 3.14
HOUSTON WESTBURY 3.13
PEARLAND-SIMS BAYOU @ SH 288 3.03
HOU - RELIANT PARK 2.99
MEYERLAND 1 SSE - WILLOWBEND 2.96
CLEVELAND 2.85
HOUSTON 5.8 SE 2.79
KINGWOOD 3.9 S 2.74
SUGARLAND 1 NW - OYSTER CREEK 2.64
HOU-BRAYS BAYOU @ MAIN ST 2.56
HOU-BRAYS BAYOU @ S MCGREGOR 2.52
BELLAIRE - METRO RAIL @ FANNIN 2.48
CONROE 2.47
HOU-BUFFALO BAYOU TURN BASIN 2.40
CLEVELAND 0.9 SW 2.39
HOU-KEEGANS BAYOU @ ROARK RD 2.35
CONROE - WEST FORK SAN JACINTO 2.33
SOUTH HOUSTON 4 SSW 2.25
HOU-SH 288 @ MCGOWEN 2.21
MONTGOMERY 2.12
MOSES LAKE TIDE GAGE 2.12
RICHMOND 5.6 ESE 2.10
CLEVELAND - E FK SAN JACINTO 2.06
DACUS 2.05
LEAGUE CITY 1.2 N 2.03
HOU-CLEAR CK @ BAY AREA BLVD 1.82
HOUSTON - SIMMS BAYOU AT SH 35 1.81
SUGARLAND 3 SSE 1.74
WEBSTER 0.4 NW 1.71
RICHMOND - BRAZOS RIVER 1.70
SUGARLAND 1 SSW - OYSTER CREEK 1.70
SUGARLAND 1.70
SUGARLAND 1 W 1.70
LEAGUE CITY 2.4 W 1.68
SUGARLAND 1 N - OYSTER CREEK 1.62
SUGARLAND 2 SE - WILLIAMS TR 1.54
SUGARLAND 3 SSW-BULLHEAD BAYOU 1.53

Have a safe Wednesday everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

River Flood Conditions/Flood Warning In Effect

Flood Warnings remain in effect across the Houston area...primarily because of ongoing river flooding. We were trying to get up to Texas Children's this morning (on Highway 90). It was deadlocked as we got in closer to the loop. So we took another route. I have a feeling Buffalo Bayou was causing some flooding, but it might have been street flooding. Anyway, we found another way to get there. We did cross Buffalo Bayou and it was high and running fast. Please go to this link for more information on river flooding.

http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=TXZ213&warncounty=TXC201&firewxzone=TXZ213&local_place1=5+Miles+NNW+Sheldon+TX&product1=Flood+Warning

One of our blog followers commented on CyFair School District. They were also closed today. Overnight there was very heavy rain over the Cypress Creek and White Oak Bayou Water Sheds. Piney Point Village and Highland Village were particularly hard hit.

Remember the rule of thumb to "Turn Around, Don't Drown" when encountering flooded roadways.

More rain is possible later tonight into early Wednesday with leftover boundaries and plenty of moisture. Will note that models are drying us out, but they didn't do a great job of catching what developed overnight. Will say there was an indication of more rain--just not 8 to 9 inches in a few hours.

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman

Flash Flooding Prompts Closure of All Fort Bend ISD Schools

This was posted on the Fort Bend ISD web site:

"Fort Bend ISD is Closed Today, Tuesday, April 28, due to inclement weather conditions!Due to inclement weather conditions, all schools and support facilities in Fort Bend ISD are CLOSED today. Safety for students and staff is our main concern."

I did check the HISD inclement weather hotline (713-267-1704 ) and they are still open as of 7:11 am.

Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman