Tropical Depression Bill – Day 3
Position: 33.7N 97.3W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [360°] near 10 mph [16 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 30 mph [ 50 kph].
Wind Gusts: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 999 mb ↓.
Currently about 65 miles [ 105 km] North-Northwest of Dallas, Texas.
The National Hurricane Center issued its last advisory at 4AM CDT and the Weather Prediction Center took responsibility for the storm, which is a wide-spread flood threat.
Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.
[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]
4 comments
Here in Houston, near and inside the southwest corner of the loop, more or less, near Brays Bayou, Bill’s about done. Yesterday we saw only occasional intense bands of showers and no flooding. Today we saw only one intense shower, early morning, lasting about 5 minutes. Stella drove the approx. four miles to and from work today with no problems. Other parts of the city and metro area, northeast and deep southwest, were hammered a bit more.
As for Bill, his Texas adventure is done for, I suspect. At Our House, we can take a deep breath and start preparing for the next storm: we have lots of food and water left over; now if only I can find where I stored the battery-powered radio…
For anyone near a river or creek in the area, it isn’t going be over for a while as things drain. Shreveport, LA didn’t get much or any rain from the last round, but ended up flooded when the Red River overflowed.
Looking at the maps the rain was obviously spotty and localized.
Only 5 and a half months to go…
I wrote the above before I saw a TV weather update by a very bright young man who clearly knew both hydrology and the great State of Texas very well. He reminded us all of what I once knew: that flooding in Texas is determined by several components, only one of which is today’s rainfall. As I write this, yes, most of Houston is NOT flooded, but there are parts of Texas both southwest and northeast of us that are still experiencing rain-driven floods, and of course many of the river levels are only today finally at their maximums.
I find this hydrologic map useful. There’s surely one for Florida as well, and other more specific maps are also available.
The Weather Prediction Center has links the flood maps for all of the US, but my area is only subject to flooding from a general rise in the Gulf that backs into the bayous. The sand just lets the rain drop through. The only people in trouble are those who have brought in real dirt to grow grass and such, because that doesn’t provide the flow through of the sand.
This is going to be long process.