Flooding a concern throughout south Texas following days of severe weather, heavy rains

SAN ANTONIO — A Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Atascosa County and southern areas of Bexar County has expired as of 12:50 a.m. Tuesday, yet flooding remains a major concern following days of heavy rain and severe weather throughout south Texas.

The National Weather Service issued an Areal Flood Advisory for several south Texas counties, including southern Atascosa County, West Central Dewitt County, Karnes County, and Central Wilson County until 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Much of south Texas, including San Antonio, remains under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 4 a.m. Tuesday. 

Damaging winds and hail are all possible overnight into Tuesday morning, but the biggest issue may be flooding. 

An Areal Flood Advisory was issued for Bexar and Medina Counties earlier Monday evening; that extended until 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. With just a few days left in the month of May, San Antonio has seen 4.36″ of rain in the month, about 1.25″ above the average monthly rainfall.

For the year, San Antonio is above its annual average rainfall; the city as seen 11.71″ of rain so far in 2020.

The National Weather Service reported flash flooding in the Olmos Park area of San Antonio, as of 10:30 p.m. Monday evening. If you come across a flooded roadway, do not try to drive across the area. Remember – turn around, don’t drown!

As of 12:45 a.m., CPS Energy is reporting 75 active outages affecting 1,192 customers in the San Antonio area. Click here to view the CPS Energy Outage Map.

NWS reported quarter- to golf-ball-sized hail in Uvalde and near Floresville Monday night. Lots of lightning was spotted with these storms. Check out photos sent to us of lightning over parts of Bexar County:

• A Severe Thunderstorm Warning for parts of Frio and Medina Counties was extended until 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. It has since expired.
• A Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Gonzales, Karnes, Dewitt, and Lavaca Counties was in effect until 12:15 a.m. Tuesday morning.
• A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was in effect for Val Verde County until 10:15 p.m. but has since expired.
• A Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Uvalde and Zavala Counties expired at 11:45 p.m.

This is a developing weather event. Refresh the page for the latest updates.

The current weather pattern remains a highly active one for at least a few days. Expect more rain to fall through Wednesday; more severe weather is also possible, including flash floods. 

When severe weather threatens the area, it is important to know what risks a storm can bring and what you should do to stay safe. 

One of the most important things to know is where you are located on a map, so when a watch or warning is put into place, you can identify if you are at risk. When the National Weather Service puts out warnings, they are county-based and sometimes include cities as well. It is important to know where you live in the county and that you can identify it on a map.

It is also important to know the difference between a watch and a warning. A watch means that conditions are favorable for something to happen, but a warning means that something has developed and it is important to take action.

So, what would cause a thunderstorm to be qualified as a “severe” thunderstorm?

Hail that is one inch large is also considered to be about the size of a quarter.

Another ingredient that would lead to a storm becoming severe is if winds are 58 mph or greater.

Winds at this strength could cause damage to roofs and could even cause trees to be knocked down.

Finally, if a tornado is present inside a thunderstorm it would qualify the storm as becoming severe.

In this instance, a tornado warning would be issued.

A tornado watch can be issued for an area if strong storms are expected, and if the storms bring the risk for tornadoes, but not all storms include the threat for tornadoes. The ingredients in the atmosphere for a tornado to form are not always there when storms are present.

If the area you are in is ever under a tornado warning, it is important to know where you should go inside your home.

Head to the lowest, interior room of your home. The basement would be best, but if you don’t have one, head to the first floor of the home and get away from exterior walls, or walls that lead to the outside of the home.

It is also important to stay away from glass. The more walls you can put between you and the outside, the better.

While lightning can be frequent in storms and very dangerous, it does not lead to a storm being qualified as severe.

Remember, when thunder roars, go indoors.

Storms can also lead to flooding. Flooding may not cause a storm to be labeled as being severe, but it is the deadliest kind of weather.

South Texas is known to have major flood events every few years, so it is important to use caution and to always stay out of floodwaters. Remember, turn around, don’t drown.

Entering flood water is very dangerous as you can be swept off of your feet and you don’t know what could be in the water that could hurt you.

The best thing you can do to be ready for severe weather is know what you will do in the event it strikes where you live.

Make sure your family has a severe weather action plan.

Have a place everyone goes inside your home and keep supplies there, such as food, medication, batteries, and flashlights.

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