Beta’s bands continue to impact Houston roadways and bayous

5:45am CT Tuesday: Good morning. We are continuing to closely monitor heavy rainfall in and around the Houston metro area due tropical moisture. Some areas south of Interstate 10 have received 5 to 10 inches of rainfall during the last 24 hours and more is in store today.

Tropical Storm Beta may or may not be a tropical storm any longer—the official forecast pegs it at 40 mph sustained winds, with fairly low confidence—but this matters little to the ongoing forecast. Its center has continued moving slowly inland this morning, and is probably located some few dozen miles northeast of Victoria Texas, along the Highway 59 corridor. The storm has drifted a little bit further inland than forecasters anticipated, and it should wobble around there for about 24 hours. After this time it should start to lift to the northeast, and pull away from the Houston metro area by later on Wednesday.

The biggest threat from this slow-moving tropical system remains rainfall. After widespread rainfall on Monday, the grounds and bayous south of, and along Interstate 10 are now saturated. Minor flooding is now occurring at some locations along Clear Creek and a high tide (at 5:43 am Tuesday) in concert with Beta’s lingering surge is not helping matters. Several other waterways, including Buffalo Bayou and lower South Mayde Creek are also experiencing some issues in West Houston.

Because areas of south and central Houston have received an additional 2 to 5 inches from Beta since midnight, the National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Warning until 8:30 am CT. If possible, please stay off roadways this morning in this warned area.

The overall pattern today should be similar to Monday, with bands of rainfall moving in to the Houston area. It is not clear where the strongest of these bands will set up, but radar trends this morning indicate they could be slightly more narrow than those seen on Monday. The likely effect of this is intermittently moderate to heavy rainfall. The good news, if we can find some, is that the heaviest of these storms are generally only dropping 1 to 1.5 inches of rain per hour. This is heavy rain, but not the sort of 2+ inches per hour rates that can quickly back up bayous and roadways. However the constancy of the rainfall adds up.

Right now I do not think Tuesday night will be quite as bad as Monday night, but our overall confidence in rainfall totals at this point is low. Worst case scenario, some areas could see an additional 5 to 10 inches of rainfall today and tonight. Most areas will probably see less.

Our next update will come by or before 9 am CT.