Over the past 24 hours, average rainfall totals across Fort Bend County ranged from 2 inches to 3 inches. The Katy area as well as the far southern tip of the County saw as much as 5 inches with rainfall intensities as high as 3 to 3.5 inches per hour. The observed rainfall has caused rapid rises in many streams across the County with the majority of those falling since the rain has stopped.
Our region continues to be under a Flash Flood Watch through Saturday at 7 PM as another round of storms could move through the region. Based on the forecasts, these storms should be less severe than the previous storms; however, we still have a slight risk of heavy rain and thunderstorms through Saturday evening. We should get a break most of the day as the next disturbance could start working its way through the region this evening through Saturday morning. Overall, the NWS is predicting 1 to 3 inches over the next 24 hours with isolated amounts has high as 5 inches.
Due to the local rainfall overnight, we did see a slight jump at the Richmond Gage of less than 1 foot. Since the 24 hour observed rainfall was slightly less than the forecasted and the future forecast is showing less rainfall over the next 24 hours, the WGRFC has lowered their projection at the Richmond Gage. As of 8:16 AM this morning, the WGRFC is predicting the Brazos to peak around Gage Elevation 48.4 feet. Currently Richmond sits at Gage Elevation 48.19 feet. We are continuing to watch slight rises upstream due to the previous weather systems; however, at this time, these increase are not having significant impacts on the Brazos River through Fort Bend County. Based on the forecast, we anticipate the Brazos River in Richmond dropping back into Moderate Flood Stage on Saturday evening and into Action Stage on Tuesday evening.
We encourage everyone keep informed by following the Fort Bend Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management and the National Weather Service Houston/Galveston websites.
Brazos River Update – 5/10/19 at 9:30 AM
