Incoming Heavy Rain Prompts Flood Warnings For Travis, Williamson

AUSTIN, TEXAS — The National Weather Service upgraded its alerts with heightened urgency on Wednesday after recent rains, issuing a flash flood watch for a wide swath of south central Texas that includes Travis and Williamson counties.

The flash flood watch is in effect until 7 p.m. Thursday as weather watchers track a low-pressure system moving in from the Gulf of Mexico that's poised to dump additional rain on an already-saturated landscape on Wednesday night, NWS officials said.

A flash flood watch is issued by the National Weather Service when conditions are favorable for flash flooding in flood-prone areas, usually when grounds are already saturated from recent rains, or when upcoming rains will have the potential to cause a flash flood.

Heavy showers could possibly arrive along the Interstate 35 corridor as early as late Wednesday, with predictions of up to 2 inches — 4 inches in isolated areas — of additional rain, NWS officials said. The full force of these storm clusters are expected to form on Thursday morning, forecasters added. That heavy rain is expected through Thursday evening until Saturday, forecasters added.

Under normal conditions, the incoming precipitation might be described as "beneficial rain," especially coming off a parched Texas summer. This is not that, and the heavy rain expected in earnest by Thursday will manifest itself as extraneous water runoff once it hits the ground — something you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone needing in a region already soaked, and especially at Hill Country communities dealing with flooded homes and businesses.

Related stories:

Nature's Fury: Central Texas Rain Leaves Destruction In Its Wake

Flash Flooding Alerts Issued After Heavy Central Texas Rain

Texas Transportation Officials To Assess Storm Damage

Ironically, flood training sessions had been scheduled in Round Rock on Wednesday, Oct. 17. Those sessions are designed to educate residents on dealing with flooding conditions albeit in an abstract fashion in a conceptual training realm. Given the all-too-real historic flooding the area has experienced and continues to endure, those sessions have since been canceled amid actual scenarios that are far from abstract.

The flash flood watch isn't limited to Travis and Williamson counties, but also encompasses Hays, Comal and Bexar counties. A flash flood watch that was already in place for Bandera, Burnet, Gillsepie an Llano counties concurrently was extended until 7 p.m. given the imminent arrival of additional storms.

To view the rainfall totals in your area in the past 72 hours, click here.

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