Gusting winds and steady downpours hit San Antonio in the predawn hours Saturday, flooding streets and leading to cancellation of just about everything outdoors on the weekend calendar from the morning Pearl Farmers Market to the evening’ second day of the annual Luminaria arts and lights festival.
Día de los Muertos activities scheduled for Saturday evening at La Villita also have been canceled, although festivities will proceed as scheduled Sunday at 12 p.m. Click here to check for updates.
Enough rain fell by mid-day at the San Antonio International Airport – 3.54 inches – to break the 2004 record of 3.53 inches before the date, according to the national Weather Service. Major streets and highways were all passable by late morning and early afternoon rains had thinned to a drizzle. More rain is coming.
“Another round of thunderstorms with heavy rainfall is currently moving across the same areas of San Antonio with another one to three inches of rain expected,” the NWS local site stated in an afternoon posting that predicted 3-7 inches of rainfall in some areas and even more in isolated Hill Country locations and east of Tx. 281. “Heavy rain will lead to dangerous flash flooding of roads, low-lying areas, creeks, and streams. There is also a threat for minor to moderate river flooding.”
A Flash Flood Watch remains in effect through Sunday 7 a.m. as officials brace for the possibility of renewed heavy rains this evening and Sunday throughout South-Central Texas, particularly as the remnants of Hurricane Patricia combine with tropical moisture to produce more rainfall in Northern Mexico and across the border.
The Flash Flood Watch covers 33 Texas counties: Atascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Comal, De Witt, Dimmit, Edwards, Fayette, Frio, Gillespie, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hays, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kinney, Lavaca, Lee, Llano, Maverick, Medina, Real, Travis, Uvalde, Val Verde, Williamson, Wilson and Zavala.
Temperatures for the next seven days will reach only to the high 70s with night-time readings in the upper-50s. Skies should start to clear Sunday late morning with little chance of new storms next week before Friday.
As often as not in San Antonio, heavy rains and ensuing floods lead to tragedy. A homeless man chasing his loose dog disappeared in a culvert near Woodlawn Lake around 3 a.m. Saturday. The dog was retrieved alive, but San Antonio firefighters were unable to locate the missing man during a morning search, according to a report in the Express-News.
This story was originally published on Saturday, Oct. 24.
*Top image: The intersection of East Basse and Jones Maltsberger Road routinely floods during heavy rains in San Antonio. Photo by Iris Dimmick.
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One Day After Bill, Rains Flood San Antonio
And one person likely dead.
So noted in story. –RR
Great photos! Nice to see the shot of flood tunnel in action. Got a shot of the inlet at work?