Houston area Flood Watch begins Friday for 14 counties — Flash Flood Warning
A flash flood warning is in effect for the Houston area from Friday at 3 AM through Saturday at 4 AM, covering 14 counties as a strong storm system moves in. The watch spans Harris, Brazos, Colorado, Fort Bend, Grimes, Madison, Montgomery, Liberty, Polk, San Jacinto, Walker, Waller, Washington and Wharton counties.
Rain totals are forecast to run from 2 to 4 inches across much of the region, with some areas seeing as much as 6 inches. Three distinct rounds of storms are expected on Friday, giving the watch nearly 24 hours of overlap with the heaviest weather period.
Friday storm timing
The first round starts Friday, and showers should begin tapering after 8 p.m. By 11 p.m., only light sprinkles are expected to remain. Saturday morning is then expected to start cool and breezy, with the day bringing a break from the storms.
That timing leaves commuters, workers and anyone traveling across the listed counties with the heaviest rain threat concentrated during the day and evening Friday. The forecast also calls for daytime highs Saturday in the 60s and low 70s, which marks a sharp shift from the storm period.
Houston county coverage
The watch area stretches across a broad swath of southeast Texas, from Harris County through Brazos and Washington counties, and includes Fort Bend, Montgomery and surrounding counties in between. The setup places multiple Gulf Coast counties under the same weather watch at the same time.
The wider severe weather threat for Houston to the west, south and southwest is at Level 1 on a scale of 1 to 5, placing the flood watch inside a broader Friday weather alert. Sunday is expected to start in the 50s and rise to the mid-70s in the afternoon, and more rain could return midweek.
Saturday break in storms
For people in the watch area, the immediate practical step is to plan around Friday’s storm rounds and the possibility of isolated 6-inch totals in the same counties where 2 to 4 inches are forecast more broadly. The watch ends Saturday at 4 AM, which leaves the rest of Saturday as the first clear window after the storm system passes through.
