PRAY FOR THOSE IN TEXAS THAT ARE SUFFERING DUE TO THE FLOODS

At around 200 PM CDT on May 11^th, 2015, showers and thunderstorms began developing across the South Texas Brush Country. This was due to avery moist and extremely unstable airmass residing across South Texas. A slow-moving cold front and outflow boundary (image to the right) along with anupper level disurbance set the stage for a widespread heavy rain and flooding event that peaked from the evening on the 11^th into the morning hours of the 12^th. Widespread 2 to 4 inches of rain fell across South Texas. Many areas across San Patricio...Nueces... Kleberg and southern Jim Wells counties generally received 4 to 6 inches. Southern Duval and southeastern Webb counties received as much as 8 to 10 inches!

Due to the very heavy rainfall, many streets and low-lying areas became flooded due to high water. Hardest hit areas were Benavides, near Ramirez and west of Realitos in Duval county where several county roads were closed due to high water. Even a portion of state highway 16 was closed for a time due to high water. 3 to 5 feet of water affected portions of Benavides. Other hard-hit areas includedCorpus Christi, Robstown, Aransas Pass, and Port Aransas. Many flooded roads and low-lying areas occurred during the morning hours on the 12^th across these areas. 

Several rivers rose sharply due to runoff from the heavy rain. In particular, Oso Creek rose from nearly 6 feet to more than 20 feet in less than two hours! Oso Creek is expected to crest around 28.5 feet during the morning hours on the 13^th. Ongoing major flooding will persist for more than 48 hours. This Oso Creek flooding event already ranks as the 4^th highest crest ever recorded but may become the 3^rdhighest of all-time on the 13^th.

Besides the heavy rain and flooding. there were several severe thunderstorms which affected South Texas during the evening of the 11^th and during the morning of the 12^th. The strongest thunderstorm affected Riviera with 70-80 winds due to a downburst. Damaging wind gusts generally between 40 and 60 mph occurred across portions of the Coastal Bend during the early morning hours. A peak measured wind gust of 66 mph occurred at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station at 331 AM CDT on the 12^th. These strong winds produced sporadic damage that included downed trees and power poles either bent or blown completely down.

Scenes of the flooding in Texas this May 25th., 2015