18 inches of rain in 6 hours - reported in Central Texas

[greenman3610]

anyone down there in that?
and is that some kind of record, or just
normal for summer?
fyi, global warming models predict
increases in large precipitation events.

http://blog.wired.com/sterling/2007/06/climate-crisis-.html


GEORGETOWN, Texas - Torrential storms flooded parts of central Texas early Wednesday, stranding dozens of people on roofs, in trees and in vehicles, and the weather was so treacherous that some helicopter rescue attempts had to be abandoned.

The worst flooding was in Williamson, Lampasas and Burnet counties in the Texas Hill Country northwest of Austin.

"We got hard facts of 18-plus inches of rain in a couple of those places since midnight," Austin-Travis County emergency medical services spokesman Warren Hassinger said just after 7 a.m. More rain was expected, the National Weather Service said.

There were no immediate reports of deaths Wednesday, but it was the latest in a series of storms blamed for at least 11 deaths in the past week in Texas.

Parts of Oklahoma also were soaked Wednesday, with rain falling on Oklahoma City for the 15th consecutive day, breaking a 70-year-old record.

[Breeze54]

1. Wow!! That can't be good.

I heard 14 inches were possible there, this morning on the news, but 18??

Yikes!!

Last year they weren't getting any and were in drought.

[TX-RAT]

5. It's true

Marble Falls had 18 inches, Lake Travis is coming up a foot an hour. This ain't good.

[Breeze54]

9. I hope you're out of harm's way!

Isn't it good if the lake rises?

I thought you all needed rain?

I know you don't need flooding though.

[kwyjibo]

2. definitely NOT normal

We've been having a crazy summer. It's rained most days of June and May. I guess it's La Nina?

Every once in a while we'll have a really rainy summer, but usually it's just hot and somewhat dry. We often have burn bans but not usually a lot of fires.

I've never heard of that much rain here in such a small amount of time. I heard that a lot of houses were flooded, unfortunately.

[redqueen]

3. it's not normal at all

i love love love your avatar :)

[cliss]

4. I just checked the news

to see if there were any photos I could post here - but - nothing.

This does not bode well.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. Marble Falls (where they had the 18" of rain) gets it's news from Austin

You'd need to check the local Austin news if you want to find pics. However, I checked and found you a link to a gallery on KXAN.

http://www.kxan.com/Global/Link.asp?L=252150

[porphyrian]

6. Didn't they have a drought last year?

Not the best way to make up for it, but it's something.

[qdemn7]

19. Texas

Came out of a 2 year drought. But by now all the lakes that were way down, and I mean WAAAYY down (20 feet or so), are full and water is going over the spillway.

Here in North Texas we have heavy rain forecast up until Saturday night. We have had about 2.5-3.0 inches of rain the last 24 hours.

Checking the NOAA website I found a map that let's you play around with precipitation rates. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/rfcshare/precip_analysis_new.php

The year to date we are 100% to 300% above normal.
Some isolated spots have received 60-70 inches of rain year to date.
The rest 10-35 inches.
Even arid W. Texas has more rain than normal.

[porphyrian]

21. And we haven't even seen any real hurricane activity yet.

I'm in the Florida panhandle (Tallahassee), and we're pretty far behind where we're supposed to be in rainfall. I'm worried we're going to get it in the form of a bad storm or three.

[TX-RAT]

28. Even arid W. Texas has more rain than normal.

I'm in west TX. I'm over 22 inches for this year, had 21 inches last year and had 42 the year before that. We normally get 14 to 16 per year.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. I'll bet Cindy's land in Crawford is flooded

It's in a flood zone.

[Firespirit]

8. PLEASE SEND IT HERE

I'm in Boston and we're dying over here from foul, polluted, particle matter-ridden air today. I'm only mildly asthmatic and my lungs haven't even been expanding properly today. I hate to even think how much filth I'm inhaling, and what the future effects of it will be. :scared: --Oh, and we had a record high, to top it off.

But that's just the crux of global warming, isn't it... it messes up long-established weather patterns that people are used to.

[Breeze54]

12. Please don't!! That's haze your seeing.

It's here in the 'burbs too. It'll be gone tomorrow. ;)
I don't want rain like we had last May & June!
I hope you have AC!

[Firespirit]

14. Well it IS particle matter

Today was "level orange" for pollution in the city. Guess the haze was just aggravating the condition.

And yeah, the storms are supposed to come in tomorrow. It'll be sticky and muggy -- but a lot cooler. The pollution problem only occurs with high temperatures.

[Breeze54]

17. Yeah because it's thick, heavy, muggy air.

This to shall pass, as they say. ;)

It was hanging low; out here, to the ground at 5 AM.

[spotbird]

10. That has to rival monsoons

in the rain forests. It's incredible.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. The runoff was so intense it ripped the pavement off the roads in some places

This all took place in the dead of night and some people were either asleep (how with all the wall shaking thunder I don't know) or unaware of the volume of rain. I spoke with one person that was rescued from the roof of their flooded home who told me they had no time to do anything but climb on the roof since the water was rising so fast.

[spotbird]

23. Except that there was

no storm, I heard similar stories from Katerina evacuees. The water came up in the middle of the night so quickly that one elderly man I met didn't' have time to grab his teeth before climbing out through a window. He still didn't have new teeth when I met him about a month later. The story makes my blood boil when I think of it.

[MazeRat7]

13. Yup...its been a frog floater -nt

[Posteritatis]

15. Damn Texans need to share. :P (nt)

[madfloridian]

18. Here's slide show from the area...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/pt/slideshows/2007/06/0627rain/

[ceile]

20. We're expecting another 10-15 inches tonight.

This is when I seriously hope the NWS is wrong!
Poor Marble Falls just got pounded!
http://www.statesman.com/ap/mediahub/media/slideshow/index.jsp?tId=24963

[file83]

24. Time to load of the life raft!!!

[Fleshdancer]

25. This is beyond ridiculous

I hope everyone remains safe tonight. :(

[malaise]

22. I was checking on Texas DUers earlier

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1196505&mesg_id=1196505

[damntexdem]

26. Up here in North Texas, I believe it.

And there was a flooding death up here yesterday.

[devilgrrl]

27. We could use some of that rain in California...

hope the Texans are fairing well. :-(