Norman Brings Flash Flood Threat San Antonio to Houston

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

September 28, 2012; 5:10PM,EDT

 

 

 

Heavy rain and the risk of flash and urban flooding will spread across a large part of Texas into the weekend.
Tropical storm Norman has formed along the Pacific coast of Mexico. Its moisture will ride up along a southwesterly flow into Texas this weekend created by Miriam. Gulf of Mexico moisture will join in the frenzy.
San Angelo, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Corpus Christi and Waco are at risk for urban flooding, while the wide-open spaces in between could be hit with dangerous flash flooding. A particularly vulnerable area is the Hill Country northwest of San Antonio.
There is the potential for 6 inches of rain in some locations with swath of 2- to 4-inch rainfall covering over 1,000 square miles of Texas real estate centered on the I-10 corridor.

Areas to the north and south of the heaviest amount of rain, including Dallas and Brownsville, may still experience blinding downpours and flash flooding at the local level.
Early Friday morning, the cities of Midland and Odessa were slammed with torrential rainfall. Numerous water rescues had to be performed by emergency personnel. Between 2 and 3 inches of rain have fallen on the area in about three hours during the morning.
Avoid driving through or parking in flood-prone areas. Dry washes can rapidly fill with deep, forceful water.
Farther east along the Gulf Coast and 200 miles or so inland, the rain will continue to advance eastward over the weekend.
The rain will likely make college and high school football interests miserable in parts of the South for a time this weekend.
Other Deep South cities that are likely to be impacted by heavy rain and the potential for urban and low-lying area flooding include Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Jackson and Mobile spanning Saturday night and Sunday.
Tropical moisture from the Eastern Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico are converging on the Lone Star State.
As if impacts from these were not enough, a new tropical system forming near the southern end of the Gulf of California, in the shadows of diminishing system Miriam, is joining in. The new system has quickly gathered the name Norman within the bright clouds and tall thunderstorms in this NOAA photo. Miriam appears as the swirl of gray, low-level clouds to the west of Norman.

The rain is not all bad, as a large portion of the state experienced worsening drought conditions during the latter part of the summer of 2012.