Officials in parts of Texas are warning that flooding could last for weeks in the wake of unprecedented amounts of May rainfall. Those rainfall totals, which have now topped 20 inches since May 1 in at least two cities, will climb still higher over the Memorial Day weekend as thunderstorms dump even more rainfall on an already water-logged region.
The National Weather Service in Corpus Christi, Texas, says flooding is likely to continue for weeks along the Nueces River just west of Corpus Christi. The flooding is affecting a stretch downstream of the Wesley Seale Dam, which impounds Lake Corpus Christi.
That reservoir has reached its full capacity due to widespread heavy rainfall upstream across South Texas this month. In a disaster declaration issued Thursday, Nueces County Judge Loyd Neal said water releases from the dam began this past weekend “in order to prevent damage to [the dam] and to avoid uncontrolled downstream impacts.” About 100 homes have already been cut off by floodwaters, and hundreds of homes are at risk of flooding in the days ahead.
The rising Wichita River prompted evacuations of parts of the east side of Wichita Falls, Texas Wednesday night and Thursday morning. The river was forecast to crest sometime Friday about three feet below its record crest from late June 2007.
(MORE: Latest Updates on Flash Flooding and Severe Weather)
Over 100 locations in the central and southern Plains are currently reporting river flooding, the majority of which are in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri.
Many cities have already clinched a top five wettest May in their weather records. At least three locations, including Wichita Falls and Corpus Christi, have now recorded their wettest May on record. You can read more about that below in our rainfall records section.
(FLOOD RECAPS: San Angelo, Texas | Nebraska | North Texas | Houston Area | Oklahoma City | Manhattan, Kansas)
With the weather pattern remaining virtually the same through Memorial Day weekend, additional flash flooding and worsening river flooding is likely to occur.
Forecast: More Dangerous Flooding Through the Weekend
Radar and Flood Alerts
This map shows the latest radar, flood watches and flood warnings.
As mentioned already, a persistent weather pattern has been fueling the heavy rain in the Plains.
A southward dip in the jet stream has been locked in place over the western states, allowing it to launch disturbances into the Plains. Those disturbances provide the necessary lift in the atmosphere to trigger thunderstorm development as they intercept a warm, moist air mass in place near the surface of the earth.
Unfortunately, it appears this weather pattern will stay in place through Memorial Day weekend, triggering additional rounds of rain and thunderstorms.
Through Friday, additional clusters of thunderstorms will move off the High Plains of eastern New Mexico into West Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.
The higher threat for additional heavy rainfall in the most saturated areas of Oklahoma and Texas is both Saturday and Sunday, when clusters of slow-moving thunderstorms are expected. Right now, our forecast guidance suggests at least some parts of the Lone Star State may still see locally heavy rain again on Monday.
(MORE: Daily Rain Forecast)
Forecast Rainfall
This map shows the forecast rainfall amounts through Monday. Keep in mind rainfall totals may be much higher where thunderstorm(s) stall for a period of one or more hours. Precise city totals are shown merely to give an idea on potential rain magnitudes.
Though it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact areas of the heaviest rain and thunderstorms, it’s safe to say that additional, serious flash flooding and worsening river flooding is likely to occur. Severe storms are also possible at times in the Southern Plains. To see where the severe thunderstorm threat is each day, click the link below.
(MORE: Severe Weather Forecast)
Our forecast rainfall map shows a swath of heavy rainfall is expected, at times, through the Memorial Day weekend in central, east and north Texas extending into parts of Oklahoma, southern Kansas and western Arkansas.
Keep in mind that slow-moving thunderstorms can produce heavier rainfall totals in localized areas in a short period of time. Also, the exact areas where the heaviest rainfall amounts occur may differ slightly from what is shown on our forecast map given that small-scale details are hard to predict several days in advance.
(INTERACTIVE MAP: Latest Flood Alerts)
As always, stay informed about the latest flood watches and warnings for your area. If you are in a vehicle and encounter a flooded roadway, DO NOT attempt to drive through the water. From 1995-2010, 64 percent of flood-related deaths occurred in vehicles. As the National Weather Service stresses, turn around, don’t drown.
In Pursuit of May Rainfall Records
Estimated Rainfall in May 2015
Shaded areas show estimated rainfall since the start of May 2015. Specific numbers plotted on the map are actual totals from airport observations and CoCoRaHS volunteer observers.
From Colorado and Nebraska to Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas, several cities have already seen one of their wettest Mays on record. Here’s a look at where things stand right now:
Wichita Falls, Texas – May 2015 became the wettest month on record in this northern Texas city early Friday afternoon, May 22, when the city’s month-to-date total reached 13.33 inches as of 1:11 p.m. CDT. That broke the record for May and for any month on the calendar, both set in May 1982 with 13.22 inches.
Corpus Christi, Texas – Rainfall in May 2015 is 12.68 inches through May 21, which is well beyond the previous May record of 10.44 inches that was set in 1941. A total of 4.56 inches fell on Thursday to clinch the record. Amazingly, just nine days prior, exactly 4.56 inches of rain also fell in the city. May 12 and May 21 are now tied as the third-wettest May days in the city’s weather records.
According to weather.com senior meteorologist Nick Wiltgen, May 2015 now exceeds Corpus’s total rainfall for the entire drought-parched year of 2011, which was only 12.06 inches.
Fort Smith, Arkansas – This western Arkansas city has now recorded its wettest May in history with 13.85 inches of rain through Thursday. The old record was 13.67 inches from May 1943.
Oklahoma City – With 14.42 inches of rain through 4 p.m. CDT Friday, Oklahoma City is less than a quarter of an inch away from not only seeing its wettest May on record, but also its wettest month. The current wettest May was just two years ago in 2013 when 14.52 inches was recorded. June 1989 holds the title as the wettest month overall with 14.66 inches of rain.
Lubbock, Texas – 8.28 inches of rain has fallen through 4 p.m. CDT Friday, pushing Lubbock up a slot to become the second-wettest May on record. The total would have to rise to 12.69 inches to claim the title for the wettest May. According to the National Weather Service, the last time it rained 8 inches or more in a month in Lubbock was September 2008 with 8.70 inches.
Amarillo, Texas – 6.81 inches of rain has fallen through 4 p.m. CDT May 22, making it the sixth-wettest May on record. The all-time record is 9.81 inches in May 1951.
Lincoln, Nebraska – 10.40 inches of rain has fallen through May 21, ranking as the second-wettest May in the Nebraska capital. Just over a third of an inch of rain will surpass the current wettest May record of 10.72 inches set in 1903.
Colorado Springs, Colorado – 6.53 inches of rain at Colorado Springs Municipal Airport through May 21 ranks as the second-wettest May on record. The wettest May was in 1935 when 8.10 inches was recorded. Interestingly, several co-operative and volunteer observation sites only a few miles west of the airport have picked up 10 to 12 inches of rain this month.
Of the first 22 days of May, 17 have had measurable precipitation (.01 inch or greater) at the Colorado Springs airport; that is an all-time record. Four other days have had a trace of precipitation, and only one has been completely dry.
Pueblo, Colorado – A total of 4.70 inches of rain has fallen through May 21, making it the second wettest May on record. The wettest May was in 1957 when 5.43 inches was measured.
Every day since May 5 – that’s 18 straight days as of this writing – has brought at least 4 inches of rainfall to at least one location in the state of Texas, according to CoCoRaHS, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. At least 86 of the volunteer network’s 1,699 reporting sites in Texas have recorded at least 10 inches of rain this month. The wettest of all has been Archer City, about 120 miles northwest of Dallas, with a total of 19.54 inches through the morning of May 22.
Oklahoma has also taken a drenching this month, with month-to-date totals topping 10 inches across much of the southern half of the state. One CoCoRaHS site on the northeast side of Norman has reported 20.29 inches of rain since May 1, including three different days with 24-hour rainfall totals topping 3 inches. Other overwhelming month-to-date totals through early May 21 include 18.23 inches near Marietta and 17.48 inches near Mountain Park.
Among other states in the May rainy zone, top month-to-date totals by state include 16.26 inches near Uniontown in northwest Arkansas; 14.60 inches near Ruston in northern Louisiana; 12.92 inches in the Ivywild neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado; 12.73 inches near Fairbury in southeast Nebraska; 10.91 inches near Webber in north-central Kansas; and 10.18 inches near Plattsburg in northwest Missouri.
We got 5″ of rain on the 18th in about 3.5 hrs. Have had very little sun this spring, looking for a let up. Haven’t seen chem trails, so not sure whats going on in the skys. It’s to the point where one does not know if this is natural or not.
Our local paper reported on a cattle ranch in the area that watched 1/2 million dollars swimming down the Navidad River. They recovered 90 of their cattle with 50 more unacounted for. Crazy stuff!
For far west Texas, not quite 2004 (more than 60 inches of rain that year…last time that happened was the 1940s!), but wetter than usual (April and May are always dry…meaning watch out for wildfires). Usually we don’t get much rain until the 4th of July. Then again while I am happy about the rain I just wish we could send some of it to California…but the criminal psychopathic elites can’t have the nation’s food basket growing because of rain, now can they?
Texas being punished for governor’s statement that the Tx guard will keep an eye on Jade Helm exercise?
Yeah, maybe that’s it!
Hated the rain in L.A., but that was a dirty city. It rains here a lot, I’ve seen more in the last 3 months than in the last 5 years there.
But I actually like the rain here.
It’s ridiculous here in Dallas. I haven’t seen the sun in over 2 weeks. It’s like these storm clouds keep hovering or circling over the city and just when the it starts to depart and the sun manages to seep through the last hour or so in the day, then the chemtrails are shown creeping through the clouds and all is cloudy again, followed by constant thunderstorms and hard rain.
I have never seen anything like it. This is most certainly NOT normal. Since when has anyone never seen the sun in 2 weeks? It’s impossible (mother nature wouldn’t allow it) unless it was controlled that way.