Houston faced another day of heavy rain and flooding on Saturday as a stalled band of tropical moisture parked over southeast Texas, prompting flash flood warnings and street flooding across the metropolitan area. Forecasters said the heaviest totals would fall along and north of Interstate 10, with at least one to three inches of rain expected over the weekend and locally higher amounts where storms trained over the same neighborhoods.
The National Weather Service warned that rainfall rates could peak at three to four inches per hour, enough to overwhelm storm drains and trigger rapid rises on roadways and bayous. "Isolated areas could see localized street flooding," NWS meteorologist Jason Davis said, cautioning drivers against attempting to cross flooded roads.
The deluge is the product of an unusually moist airmass that has lingered over the upper Texas coast for much of the first week of June, fueling daily rounds of showers and thunderstorms. With the ground already saturated from earlier downpours, even moderate rain has been enough to pond water in low-lying spots and underpasses around the city.
The timing complicated plans for Houston's annual Pride celebration downtown, with festivities scheduled to begin late Saturday morning and the parade set for the evening. Organizers and city officials urged attendees to monitor the forecast and prepare for the possibility of rain disrupting the day's events.
Areas to the northwest of Houston, near the College Station region, were flagged for a slightly elevated risk of excessive rainfall, while the immediate Houston area carried a marginal risk. Forecasters said the pattern would only slowly relax, with conditions expected to trend drier toward the middle of next week.
Flooding is a recurring hazard for Houston, a sprawling, low-lying city crossed by bayous that can swell quickly during intense rain. Officials reminded residents to avoid driving through high water and to heed any warnings as the storms continue to move through the region into Sunday.