December 2015 -Year Ends As One Of Wettest On Record

[srainhoutx]

Morning detailed briefing from Jeff regarding the N Texas Tornado Outbreak:

combination of factors evolved during the early evening hours of December 26, 2015 over N TX to produce one of the most devastating winter time tornado outbreaks in modern times in TX. Several supercell thunderstorms produced at least 9 tornadoes across north TX with the most significant affecting the higher population areas of eastern Dallas County into northwest Rockwall County and southeast Collin County.

There were 11 fatalities associated with the tornadoes including 8 in the City of Garland and 5 at the I-30/George Bush Turnpike interchange where vehicles were swept off the highway. Cell video of the tornado crossing I-30 indicated that motorists traveling both directions on I-30 appeared largely unaware of the approaching tornado and drove directly into the large circulation.

The 11 tornado fatalities on December 26, 2015 makes is the most fatalities in a N TX tornado outbreak since 10 fatalities in Dallas County in 1957 and 34 fatalities in Dallas and Collin Counties on May 9, 1927. This outbreak was the deadliest outbreak in over 50 years.

The 20 tornado fatalities in the last 5 days across the southern US is the most December tornado deaths since 49 fatalities in December 1953.

The EF-4 rated Garland Tornado in the strongest December tornado on record in the US since an EF-4 tornado struck AL on December 16, 2000.

An estimated 1100 structures were damaged by the multiple tornadoes.

Rowlett/Garland/Sunnyvale Tornado:
Tornado developed at 645pm SW of Sunnyvale and tracked NNE through the City of Garland and the City of Rowlett on the western shore of Lake Ray Hubbard. Track was 13 miles long with EF-3 (136-165 mph) rated damage in Rowlett and EF-4 (166-200 mph) rated damage in Garland and a path width of 550 yards. This tornado resulted in 8 fatalities and over 75 injuries and was on the ground for 20 minutes. Doppler radar scans of the supercell that was producing this tornado indicated debris was lofted up to 17,000 ft above the surface. The large debris field was clearly noted in the radar images as captured below as the tornado crossed into the high population areas of Garland and Rowlett. The EF-4 rating in Garland is the strongest tornado rating in Dallas County since 1994.

Copeville Tornado:
This tornado developed from the Rowlett supercell and formed at 728pm near Copeville, TX. The damage path was 7.3 miles long and 150 yards wide and was rated EF -2. There were 2 fatalities with this tornado. This tornado was produced from the same supercell that produced the Garland/Rowlett tornado after crossing over Lake Ray Hubbard.

Blue Ridge Tornado:
This tornado was on the ground for 4 minutes producing EF-0 damage (65-85mph) with a path length of 3 miles and 80 yards wide. Based on the timing…the tornado was moving at nearly 1 mile per minute. There was 1 fatality associated with this tornado in Blue Ridge.

Glenn Heights/Ovilla/Waxahachie Tornado:
Damage survey will be conducted today to determine EF rating for this tornado. Damage was extensive in northern Ellis and southern Dallas County with 101 structures damaged or destroyed. There were no fatalities with this tornado, but several injuries.

The following warnings were issued by the NWS Fort Worth Office for the Garland and Rowlett Tornado. The tornado warning at 639pm, triggered the outdoor siren systems in Rowlett, Garland, and Rockwall…a total of 6 minutes before the tornado touched down. A severe weather statement followed the lead warning at 649pm indicated that there was a confirmed large tornado on the ground and again at 655pm.



BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED

TORNADO WARNING

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX

639 PM CST SAT DEC 26 2015

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

SOUTHERN COLLIN COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS...

NORTHEASTERN DALLAS COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS...

WESTERN ROCKWALL COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS...

* UNTIL 730 PM CST

* AT 638 PM CST...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A

TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR BALCH SPRINGS...MOVING NORTH AT 45 MPH.



HAZARD...TORNADO AND QUARTER SIZE HAIL.



SOURCE...RADAR INDICATED ROTATION.



IMPACT...FLYING DEBRIS WILL BE DANGEROUS TO THOSE CAUGHT WITHOUT

SHELTER. MOBILE HOMES WILL BE DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

DAMAGE TO ROOFS...WINDOWS AND VEHICLES WILL OCCUR. TREE

DAMAGE IS LIKELY. THERE ARE TWO STORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING

TORNADOES. ONE JUST SOUTHEAST OF DOWNTOWN DALLAS... ONE NEAR BALCH

SPRINGS. BOTH STORMS ARE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND MOVING NORTHEAST.



* THIS DANGEROUS STORM WILL BE NEAR...

SUNNYVALE AROUND 645 PM CST.

DALLAS...GARLAND...RICHARDSON...ROWLETT...ROCKWALL AND SACHSE

AROUND 700 PM CST.

MURPHY AROUND 705 PM CST.

WYLIE...LUCAS AND PARKER AROUND 710 PM CST.

FAIRVIEW AROUND 715 PM CST.

FARMERSVILLE AROUND 725 PM CST.



OTHER LOCATIONS IMPACTED BY THIS TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM INCLUDE ST.

PAUL...BUCKINGHAM...NEVADA AND LAVON.

THIS INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING INTERSTATES...
INTERSTATE 35E BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 425 AND 435.
INTERSTATE 20 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 475 AND 481.
INTERSTATE 30 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 41 AND 69.
INTERSTATE 45 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 280 AND 284.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TORNADOES ARE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO SEE AND CONFIRM AT NIGHT. DO NOT

WAIT TO SEE OR HEAR THE TORNADO. TAKE COVER NOW.





649 PM CST SAT DEC 26 2015

...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 730 PM CST FOR SOUTHERN

COLLIN...NORTHEASTERN DALLAS AND WESTERN ROCKWALL COUNTIES...

AT 648 PM CST...A CONFIRMED LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO WAS

LOCATED OVER ROWLETT...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION.

HAZARD...DAMAGING TORNADO.

SOURCE...WEATHER SPOTTERS CONFIRMED TORNADO.

IMPACT...YOU ARE IN A LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. FLYING DEBRIS MAY

BE DEADLY TO THOSE CAUGHT WITHOUT SHELTER. MOBILE HOMES

WILL BE DESTROYED. CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE TO

HOMES...BUSINESSES AND VEHICLES IS LIKELY AND COMPLETE

DESTRUCTION IS POSSIBLE. SPOTTERS REPORT A LARGE AND EXTREMELY

DANGEROUS TORNADO NORTH OF SUNNYVALE...MOVING NORTH TOWARDS GARLAND

AND ROWLETT. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...TAKE COVER

IMMEDIATELY TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE!

THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

ROCKWALL AND SACHSE AROUND 700 PM CST.

WYLIE AROUND 705 PM CST.

FARMERSVILLE AROUND 720 PM CST.

OTHER LOCATIONS IMPACTED BY THIS TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM INCLUDE ST.

PAUL...BUCKINGHAM...NEVADA AND LAVON.



655 PM CST SAT DEC 26 2015

...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 730 PM CST FOR SOUTHERN
COLLIN...NORTHEASTERN DALLAS AND WESTERN ROCKWALL COUNTIES...

AT 654 PM CST...A CONFIRMED LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO WAS

LOCATED OVER ROWLETT...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION.

HAZARD...DAMAGING TORNADO.

SOURCE...RADAR CONFIRMED TORNADO.

IMPACT...YOU ARE IN A LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. FLYING DEBRIS MAY

BE DEADLY TO THOSE CAUGHT WITHOUT SHELTER. MOBILE HOMES

WILL BE DESTROYED. CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE TO

HOMES...BUSINESSES AND VEHICLES IS LIKELY AND COMPLETE

DESTRUCTION IS POSSIBLE. RADAR CONFIRMED DEBRIS WAS BEING LOFTED

OVER 1 MILE IN THE AIR. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. IF

YOU ARE NEAR ROWLETT...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE!

THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
ROCKWALL AROUND 705 PM CST.
WYLIE AROUND 715 PM CST.
FARMERSVILLE AROUND 730 PM CST.

OTHER LOCATIONS IMPACTED BY THIS TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM INCLUDE ST.
PAUL...BUCKINGHAM...NEVADA AND LAVON.

The attachment 12282015 Jeff 1 unnamed.png is no longer available

From Rockwall…looking west toward Rowlett (blue flash is debris striking power lines)

The attachment 12282015 Jeff 2 unnamed.jpg is no longer available

From Rockwall…looking across Lake Ray Hubbard

From Rockwall

Massive tornado approaching I-30 from the south…moving through Garland

12282015 Jeff 4 unnamed.jpg (10.64 KiB) Viewed 5241 times

Rowlett

I-30 at George Bush Turnpike (several vehicles were rolled and carried by the tornado)

12282015 Jeff 5a unnamed.jpg (7.66 KiB) Viewed 5241 times

65 trailers destroyed…no fatalities

High End EF 3/low end EF 4 damage (entire second floor of apartment building blown apart):

Garland South of I-30 (high end EF 3/low end EF 4 damage)

Just S of I-30 and George Bush Turnpike:

I-30 at George Bush Turnpike (location of multiple fatalities in vehicles):

S of Hwy 66 at Dalrock Exit (Rowlett)

Rowlett (at west shore of Lake Ray Hubbard):

Garland ( mid to high end EF 4 damage where home is completely removed from slab):

[/i]

[Ounce]

With no slight towards those people intended, I'm glad that didn't hit here.

[Heat Miser]

With no slight towards those people intended, I'm glad that didn't hit here.

That's for sure. Historically we usually get the low end EF-0-EF-1, maybe a 2 around these parts.
November 1992 was the exception, plus I believe an EF-4 associated with Carla on Galveston Island back in the early 60's.
We definitely came out of this situation nicely, given the concern from some meteorologist. My personal belief is the Gulf plays havoc with any parameters met that indicate a severe event for us.

[Katdaddy]

Back home from another fun Christmas adventure with family in NTX. A few picts of the flooding along I-45 between Corsicana and Fairfield. Glad we are back to much more tranquil and normal weather for this of time year. April weather for Christmas Eve and Christmas with amazing skies followed by significant severe weather potential Saturday followed by Winters arrival Sunday with some areas seeing snow this morning. It was quite the NTX weather roller coaster ride. I was also very relieved that SE TX was spared significant severe weather Sunday. Prayers to the families in NTX devastated by the violent tornadoes Saturday evening. It was a helpless feeling watching the live TV coverage of the tornadoes and seeing the large hook echoes on radar knowing that life threatening destruction was ongoing.

[Ptarmigan]

With no slight towards those people intended, I'm glad that didn't hit here.

That's for sure. Historically we usually get the low end EF-0-EF-1, maybe a 2 around these parts.
November 1992 was the exception, plus I believe an EF-4 associated with Carla on Galveston Island back in the early 60's.
We definitely came out of this situation nicely, given the concern from some meteorologist. My personal belief is the Gulf plays havoc with any parameters met that indicate a severe event for us.

Usually tornadoes are more likely to be seen inland, especially the big ones. The high humidity makes it less favorable for tornadoes. There was an EF-4 tornado from Carla in Galveston.

Tornadoes need low level high dewpoints, which is something Southeast Texas rarely sees.
http://theweatherprediction.com/habyhints2/404/

[srainhoutx]

River Flooding Update from Jeff:

Excessive rainfall this weekend of 3-6 inches over the Trinity, middle Brazos, and Navasota basins resulting in rises to and/or above flood stage.

Navasota River:

Major flooding is ongoing and forecast at Easterly and Normangee. Current forecast at Easterly would be the 3rd highest on record.

Easterly:

Current Stage: 26.65 ft

Flood Stage: 19.0 ft

Forecast: crest near 26.95 ft tonight. Major flooding below Easterly to Hwy 21 is expected at these levels.

Normangee:

Current Stage: 14.25 ft

Flood Stage: 15.0 ft

Forecast: rise to near 21.5 ft Wednesday night into Thursday (record level is 22.7ft). The current forecasted crest would be the second highest crest on record at this location. At 20.0ft the river is nearly 2 miles wide at the OSR bridge with massive inundation of the floodplain.

Brazos River:

Large flood wave on the Navasota River will empty into the Brazos River below Bryan late this week along with run-off from Yegua and Davidson Creeks. Flood wave is forecast to reach Richmond this weekend with a crest around 43-44 ft (1 ft below flood stage) and Rosharon late this weekend or early next week with a crest near or just over flood stage. Should forecast continue to indicate flooding at Rosharon a Flood Warning will be required for southern Fort Bend and northern Brazoria County.

Trinity River:

River remains in flood…flooding has been ongoing since mid November. Major flooding continues at Liberty as flood inflows into Lake Livingston are passed downstream. River is forecast to hold around major flood levels at Liberty for the next week. Upstream flood wave is currently being generated from run-off over N TX and will move downstream over the next two weeks. This will maintain flood conditions along much of the entire basin for at least the next two weeks if not longer. Many locations around Liberty have been completely cut-off now for 2-3 weeks and will remain isolated…only accessible by boat…for the next week or longer.

[brooksgarner]

Thanks for the excellent tornado outbreak write-up, srainhoutx. Horrible situation for North TX. My aunt in Dallas has a colleague in Ellis County who lost her home, but was thankfully uninjured (as they were not home) when the EF-3 hit.

Great info too, by Jeff regarding area rivers.

Thanks, all.

Looking forward to a prosperous 2016, though it'll start off rainy and chilly: a sign of good luck, no doubt!

[srainhoutx]

2015 Annual Rainfall Totals for SE Texas from HGX:

Code: Select all

.CLIMATE...
2015 HAS BEEN A VERY WET YEAR FOR MANY PLACES ACROSS SE TEXAS.
THE FOLLOWING TABLE LISTS A RANKING OF THE ANNUAL RAINFALL
RECORDS FOR 27 SITES ACROSS SE TEXAS WHICH REACHED INTO THE TOP
TEN WETTEST YEARS ON RECORD. THE DATA IS FOR RAINFALL SO FAR THIS
YEAR (THROUGH DECEMBER 28TH). 

       ...ANNUAL RAINFALL RANKINGS FOR NWS HGX...

                                            PREV/CUR RECORD
SITE                       2015 RAIN  RANK   AMOUNT   YEAR   

ANGLETON AIRPORT             57.93      1     55.65   2004
BAYTOWN                     101.33      1     83.33   2002
BELLVILLE 6NNE               64.50      1     64.41   1992
BRENHAM                      77.00      1     66.39   1919
CALDWELL                     64.42      1     63.40   1968
CITY OF HOUSTON              70.02      5     72.86   1900
COLLEGE STATION **           58.23      3     61.04   1968
COLUMBUS                     64.89      2     65.13   2004
CONROE AIRPORT               52.25      5     63.34   2004
CROCKETT                     65.84      4     66.17   1991
DW HOOKS AIRPORT             60.57      2     68.30   2001
HOBBY AIRPORT                77.12      5     83.02   1979
HOUSTON-NORTH HOUSTON        67.27      5     75.50   1991
HOUSTON WESTBURY             82.28      1     75.80   2007
HUNTSVILLE AIRPORT           66.66      1     59.58   2001
HUNTSVILLE CO-OP             68.97      1     67.15   1973
KATY WOLF HILL               56.03      6     70.06   2004
LIBERTY                      94.72      1     88.14   1991
MADISONVILLE                 58.63      4     61.52   1968
MONTGOMERY                   58.61      8     72.18   1973
NWS HGX LEAGUE CITY          86.90      1     77.98   2001
PEARLAND CLOVER FIELD        70.18      1     69.75   2002
RICHMOND                     63.34      6     75.31   2004
SOMERVILLE DAM               60.68      2     66.57   1968
SUGAR LAND AIRPORT           74.75      1     62.67   2004
WASHINGTON STATE PARK        65.34      1     61.68   1946
WHARTON                      66.70      2     70.39   2004

NOTES
** COLLEGE STATION INCLUDES COMBINED DATA FROM THE CO-OP SITE
   AND EASTERWOOD FIELD.

40

[Texaspirate11]

I posted this on my forum - but, if you don't mind I will post here, if that's okay
if anyone with a disability that lives in the areas that have been affected by the tornadoes and needs help,
please PM me.
Thank you.

[Ounce]

2015 Annual Rainfall Totals for SE Texas from HGX:

Code: Select all

.CLIMATE...
2015 HAS BEEN A VERY WET YEAR FOR MANY PLACES ACROSS SE TEXAS.
THE FOLLOWING TABLE LISTS A RANKING OF THE ANNUAL RAINFALL
RECORDS FOR 27 SITES ACROSS SE TEXAS WHICH REACHED INTO THE TOP
TEN WETTEST YEARS ON RECORD. THE DATA IS FOR RAINFALL SO FAR THIS
YEAR (THROUGH DECEMBER 28TH). 

       ...ANNUAL RAINFALL RANKINGS FOR NWS HGX...

                                            PREV/CUR RECORD
SITE                       2015 RAIN  RANK   AMOUNT   YEAR   

ANGLETON AIRPORT             57.93      1     55.65   2004
BAYTOWN                     101.33      1     83.33   2002
BELLVILLE 6NNE               64.50      1     64.41   1992
BRENHAM                      77.00      1     66.39   1919
CALDWELL                     64.42      1     63.40   1968
CITY OF HOUSTON              70.02      5     72.86   1900
COLLEGE STATION **           58.23      3     61.04   1968
COLUMBUS                     64.89      2     65.13   2004
CONROE AIRPORT               52.25      5     63.34   2004
CROCKETT                     65.84      4     66.17   1991
DW HOOKS AIRPORT             60.57      2     68.30   2001
HOBBY AIRPORT                77.12      5     83.02   1979
HOUSTON-NORTH HOUSTON        67.27      5     75.50   1991
HOUSTON WESTBURY             82.28      1     75.80   2007
HUNTSVILLE AIRPORT           66.66      1     59.58   2001
HUNTSVILLE CO-OP             68.97      1     67.15   1973
KATY WOLF HILL               56.03      6     70.06   2004
LIBERTY                      94.72      1     88.14   1991
MADISONVILLE                 58.63      4     61.52   1968
MONTGOMERY                   58.61      8     72.18   1973
NWS HGX LEAGUE CITY          86.90      1     77.98   2001
PEARLAND CLOVER FIELD        70.18      1     69.75   2002
RICHMOND                     63.34      6     75.31   2004
SOMERVILLE DAM               60.68      2     66.57   1968
SUGAR LAND AIRPORT           74.75      1     62.67   2004
WASHINGTON STATE PARK        65.34      1     61.68   1946
WHARTON                      66.70      2     70.39   2004

NOTES
** COLLEGE STATION INCLUDES COMBINED DATA FROM THE CO-OP SITE
   AND EASTERWOOD FIELD.

40

Galveston doesn't have a reporting station? Is the League City office the closest?

[srainhoutx]

2015 Annual Rainfall Totals for SE Texas from HGX:

Code: Select all

.CLIMATE...
2015 HAS BEEN A VERY WET YEAR FOR MANY PLACES ACROSS SE TEXAS.
THE FOLLOWING TABLE LISTS A RANKING OF THE ANNUAL RAINFALL
RECORDS FOR 27 SITES ACROSS SE TEXAS WHICH REACHED INTO THE TOP
TEN WETTEST YEARS ON RECORD. THE DATA IS FOR RAINFALL SO FAR THIS
YEAR (THROUGH DECEMBER 28TH). 

       ...ANNUAL RAINFALL RANKINGS FOR NWS HGX...

                                            PREV/CUR RECORD
SITE                       2015 RAIN  RANK   AMOUNT   YEAR   

ANGLETON AIRPORT             57.93      1     55.65   2004
BAYTOWN                     101.33      1     83.33   2002
BELLVILLE 6NNE               64.50      1     64.41   1992
BRENHAM                      77.00      1     66.39   1919
CALDWELL                     64.42      1     63.40   1968
CITY OF HOUSTON              70.02      5     72.86   1900
COLLEGE STATION **           58.23      3     61.04   1968
COLUMBUS                     64.89      2     65.13   2004
CONROE AIRPORT               52.25      5     63.34   2004
CROCKETT                     65.84      4     66.17   1991
DW HOOKS AIRPORT             60.57      2     68.30   2001
HOBBY AIRPORT                77.12      5     83.02   1979
HOUSTON-NORTH HOUSTON        67.27      5     75.50   1991
HOUSTON WESTBURY             82.28      1     75.80   2007
HUNTSVILLE AIRPORT           66.66      1     59.58   2001
HUNTSVILLE CO-OP             68.97      1     67.15   1973
KATY WOLF HILL               56.03      6     70.06   2004
LIBERTY                      94.72      1     88.14   1991
MADISONVILLE                 58.63      4     61.52   1968
MONTGOMERY                   58.61      8     72.18   1973
NWS HGX LEAGUE CITY          86.90      1     77.98   2001
PEARLAND CLOVER FIELD        70.18      1     69.75   2002
RICHMOND                     63.34      6     75.31   2004
SOMERVILLE DAM               60.68      2     66.57   1968
SUGAR LAND AIRPORT           74.75      1     62.67   2004
WASHINGTON STATE PARK        65.34      1     61.68   1946
WHARTON                      66.70      2     70.39   2004

NOTES
** COLLEGE STATION INCLUDES COMBINED DATA FROM THE CO-OP SITE
   AND EASTERWOOD FIELD.

40

Galveston doesn't have a reporting station? Is the League City office the closest?

Scholes Field is the official reporting site for Galveston. Not sure why it was omitted.

[DoctorMu]

2015 Annual Rainfall Totals for SE Texas from HGX:

Code: Select all

.CLIMATE...
2015 HAS BEEN A VERY WET YEAR FOR MANY PLACES ACROSS SE TEXAS.
THE FOLLOWING TABLE LISTS A RANKING OF THE ANNUAL RAINFALL
RECORDS FOR 27 SITES ACROSS SE TEXAS WHICH REACHED INTO THE TOP
TEN WETTEST YEARS ON RECORD. THE DATA IS FOR RAINFALL SO FAR THIS
YEAR (THROUGH DECEMBER 28TH). 

       ...ANNUAL RAINFALL RANKINGS FOR NWS HGX...

                                            PREV/CUR RECORD
SITE                       2015 RAIN  RANK   AMOUNT   YEAR   

ANGLETON AIRPORT             57.93      1     55.65   2004
BAYTOWN                     101.33      1     83.33   2002
BELLVILLE 6NNE               64.50      1     64.41   1992
BRENHAM                      77.00      1     66.39   1919
CALDWELL                     64.42      1     63.40   1968
CITY OF HOUSTON              70.02      5     72.86   1900
COLLEGE STATION **           58.23      3     61.04   1968
COLUMBUS                     64.89      2     65.13   2004
CONROE AIRPORT               52.25      5     63.34   2004
CROCKETT                     65.84      4     66.17   1991
DW HOOKS AIRPORT             60.57      2     68.30   2001
HOBBY AIRPORT                77.12      5     83.02   1979
HOUSTON-NORTH HOUSTON        67.27      5     75.50   1991
HOUSTON WESTBURY             82.28      1     75.80   2007
HUNTSVILLE AIRPORT           66.66      1     59.58   2001
HUNTSVILLE CO-OP             68.97      1     67.15   1973
KATY WOLF HILL               56.03      6     70.06   2004
LIBERTY                      94.72      1     88.14   1991
MADISONVILLE                 58.63      4     61.52   1968
MONTGOMERY                   58.61      8     72.18   1973
NWS HGX LEAGUE CITY          86.90      1     77.98   2001
PEARLAND CLOVER FIELD        70.18      1     69.75   2002
RICHMOND                     63.34      6     75.31   2004
SOMERVILLE DAM               60.68      2     66.57   1968
SUGAR LAND AIRPORT           74.75      1     62.67   2004
WASHINGTON STATE PARK        65.34      1     61.68   1946
WHARTON                      66.70      2     70.39   2004

NOTES
** COLLEGE STATION INCLUDES COMBINED DATA FROM THE CO-OP SITE
   AND EASTERWOOD FIELD.

40

46% of the year's rain in College Station has been since October 21.

[Ptarmigan]

The last time over 100 inches of rain fell in a year was in 1979 in Alvin and Freeport, the year Tropical Storm Claudette, Tropical Storm Elena, and a tropical depression in September occurred.

[Ptarmigan]

46% of the year's rain in College Station has been since October 21.

That is pretty crazy. A dry summer gives way to wet fall. That is El Nino.

[unome]

a big hit to dairy farms from winter storm Goliath, I hadn't heard of this before browsing news today - depending on what article you read, 20,000 to 40,000 dairy cattle died in this storm in NM & TX, here's a few:

http://www.farmersjournal.ie/40-000-dai ... co-197151/

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/02/news/da ... m-goliath/

http://www.weather.com/news/news/dairy- ... new-mexico

[srainhoutx]

2015 Year in Review from Jeff:

January 22: Strong storm system dropped between 2-5 inches of rainfall across coastal SE TX. 5.08 inches recorded at West Columbia and 4.96 inches at Texas City.

February 17: light sleet and snow flurries fell over Grimes, Montgomery, and NW Harris Counties. Some light accumulation on rooftops.

February 25: Rain mixed with sleet and some snow fell over Madison, Houston and Brazos Counties. Some light accumulation on grassy and elevated surfaces.

March 9-10: Widespread heavy rainfall of 3-5 inches led to rises on area rivers and some flooding. Flooding conditions developed on the Navasota, San Bernard, and the Trinity Rivers.

April 16: Excessive rainfall of 3-5 inches of SE Harris County and Liberty County led to flooding. Secondary band of excessive rainfall of 3-5 inches over Walker County resulted in significant flooding at Sam Houston State University. 8.19 inches recorded in Liberty County. 5.24 inches recorded in Baytown.

April 16: Bow echo with damaging winds and large hail affects portions of Austin, Colorado, and Fort Bend Counties. Winds to 60-65mph and golf ball size hail reported in Richmond/Rosenberg.

April 16: Widespread wind damage in The Woodlands from strong straight line winds.

April 17: Powerful bow echo swept across areas south of US 59 with widespread wind damage. Winds of 75-90mph impacted Angleton along with tennis ball size hail resulting in extensive property damage. 72mph wind gust recorded at Iowa Colony. 80mph wind gust at Jamaica Beach…entire house blown off pilings. 61mph recorded at Hobby Airport.

April 17: Comma head of bow echo slowed over southern Harris County resulting in 3-5 inches of rainfall in 1-2 hours including 5.24 inches at NRG Stadium and 4.92 inches in Pasadena. Many cars flooded on streets in Bellaire, South Houston, Pasadena, La Porte, Deer Park. 65-70 homes flooded in Deer Park. All roadways in Hobby Airport flooded and impassable.

April 19: Cluster of severe supercells produced numerous reports of destructive hail over Grimes, Waller, Montgomery, and Harris Counties. Many reports of golf ball to baseball size hail in the Cypress, Tomball, Magnolia, Jersey Village areas. The period from April 16-19, 2015 was one of the most active severe weather event periods in many years in SE TX.

April 25: Squall line produced damaging winds across SE TX. 69mph gust at SH 99/Franz Rd with many reports of wind damage over western Harris and northern Fort Bend Counties including a large metal billboard blown over at the new Gallery Furniture on SH 99 and 12-15 large trees snapped off in Weston Lakes.

April 26: Large long tracked supercell produced baseball size hail and a couple of weak tornadoes from NW Wharton County to NW Galveston County. Winds of 70-80mph recorded south of Needville in Fort Bend County.

April 27: Squall line produce wind damage across the northern portions of SE TX. 62mph wind gust recorded at Conroe with numerous reports of widespread damage in Grimes, Montgomery, Walker, Trinity, San Jacinto, and Washington Counties.

May 11: Slow moving thunderstorms produced 4-9 inches of rainfall over the northern portions of SE TX (north of Hwy 105). Significant flooding resulted along with eventually large releases from Lake Conroe.

May 12: Slow moving thunderstorms produce upwards of 9 inches of rainfall in Angleton and 8 inches in San Leon.

May 13: Isolated but “incredible” rainfall rates of 11.98 inches in 3-hrs impacted southern Harris County north of Clear Lake around Nasa. Significant roadway flooding with many persons trapped. 1 fatality after a vehicle was swept into a drainage ditch on SH 3. Some structure flooding. Storm totals 6-10 inches in less than 6 hrs over southern Harris County.

May 18: Round of excessive rainfall impacts areas from Colorado to southern Grimes Counties. Given already saturated grounds, extensive run-off was generated into already high area rivers. Storms totals averaged 5-10 inches between Bellville and Navasota.

May 19: weak tornado struck the town of Giddings on US 290 in Lee County rated EF0 with 80mph and injuring 1 person.

May 24: Catastrophic flooding of the Blanco River led to a massive 45 ft rise in the river at the town of Wimberley during the early morning of the 24th. The crest of 46.5 ft surpassed the previous record of 33.3 ft from 1929. Over 300 homes were washed away and 15,000 Cypress trees along the river banks were snapped or uprooted. 11 fatalities. Massive flood wave moved downstream overtopping I-35 and flooding a large part of the City of San Marcos. Rainfall on the upper headwaters of the Blanco and Little Blanco Rivers above Wimberley averaged 8-11 inches.

May 24: Lake Travis recovered 11.21 ft in just 7 days including 6.0 ft overnight on May 23rd. Lake Medina rose 23.75 ft overnight on the 23rd and 35.80 ft over 7 days.

May 25: Another round of flooding rainfall resulted in the failure of a small dam at Bastrop State Park

May 25-26: Rainfall of 8-11 inches in 3-hrs impacted portions of SW Harris and Fort Bend Counties. A Flash Flood Emergency was issued for both Harris and Fort Bend Counties for the first time ever. 8 fatalities and between 3,000 and 6,000 structures were flooded. Portions of middle and upper Brays Bayou recorded water levels not experienced since 1983.

May 27: Lake Conroe reaches 202.42 ft peak or 1.42 ft into its flood pool resulting in releases of 8,000cfs from the dam.

May 31: May 2015 becomes the wettest month ever recorded in the state of Texas back to 1895. A state wide average of 8.93 inches of rain fell in May blasting the old record of 6.66 inches in June 2004. The 8.93 inches of rainfall equals 35 trillion gallons of water falling in the month of May over the state!

March-May 2015: The wettest spring period ever recorded for the City of Houston with 26.61 inches of rainfall (22.79 inches the previous record in 1993)

June 1: The Brazos River at Richmond crests at 50.1 ft or the second highest level in modern times flooding large portions of Fort Bend and Brazoria Counties. Flow surpassed the basin divide south of Sugar Land and spilled into Oyster Creek. The flood of record remains 50.3 ft in October 1994.

June 17: Tropical Storm Bill makes landfall with 60mph winds near Matagorda Bay. Flooding rainfall of 8-13 inches over Jackson, Wharton, Matagorda, and Colorado Counties. US 59 is closed in both directions at two locations between Victoria and El Campo. Wind gust to 47mph at Schulenburg and 53mph at Palacios. Storm surge flooding of 4.6 ft at Freeport and 4.1 ft at Seabrook.

June 18: The City of Brenham surpasses their yearly rainfall of 45.15 inches with 45.77 inches record from Jan 1-Jun 18.

June 23: Lake Somerville reaches a peak elevation of 257.05 ft (19.05 ft into its flood pool).

August 6: Burn bans issued for Matagorda, Waller. Grimes, Walker, Madison, and Houston Counties after a lack of rainfall since the first week in July.

August 11: Burn ban issued for Harris County along with 67 other TX counties due to rapidly developing drought conditions.

August 11: Temperature soared to 106 at BUSH IAH (breaking record of 102 in 2011). Hobby: 104 (old record 101 in 2011) and Victoria: 104 (old record 103 in 2014).

August 11: Severe thunderstorms impacted the region with strong downburst winds. Wind gust to 61mph at Sugar Land and 55mph at Conroe. Temperature at Conroe fell from 104 to 92 in 10 minutes with outflow boundary passage.

October 13: Large scale wildfire developed near Smithville in Bastrop County and would burn over 4,500 acres and over 100 structures. Burn scare from the 2015 fire overlapped with the burn scar from the 2011 Bastrop Fire.

October 19: Large wildfire in Walker County burned over 600 acres and 3 homes.

October 23: Hurricane Patricia makes landfall on the west coast of Mexico as a category 5 hurricane. Patricia peaked at 200mph making it the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the western hemisphere.

October 24-25: Remains of hurricane Patricia help energize a non-tropical low off the TX coast. 8-11 inches of rain fall across portions of Harris and Liberty Counties, but very dry conditions and steady rainfall rates allow much of the rainfall to soak into the ground of run-off. Coastal low results in 40-50mph winds across the coastal waters. NW drive water of Galveston Bay onto the northside of Galveston and Bolivar resulting in 3-4 feet of storm surge flooding. Water levels at Kemah drop nearly 5.0 ft to from over 4.0 ft to -1.0 ft as the low passes offshore.

October 30: devastating flash flood impacts the I-35 corridor. 10.81 inches recorded in 2-hrs by LCRA gage at Onion Creek and HWY 183. Many areas hard hit by Memorial Day flooding are hit again including the Blanco and San Marcos Rivers. Water levels on Onion Creek near record levels in eastern Travis and Bastrop Counties flooding hundreds of homes. Onion Creek at Hwy 183 rose from 13-29 ft in 45 minutes. Rainfall totals 12-16 inches SE of Austin in 12 hrs.

October 31: Excessive rainfall and tornadoes impact SE TX. Rainfall amounts of 8-11 inches fall along HWY 90 from Sugar Land to Crosby with amounts of over 13 inches in Liberty County. With grounds saturated significant flooding results across Harris and Liberty Counties. Over 400 structures are flooded in Harris County and 1 flood related fatality. 12 tornadoes are confirmed over SE TX with EF 2 damage in Friendwoods, La Porte, and Pasadena.

December 12: EF2 tornado impacts Montgomery County near Willis. Tornado path was 2.24 miles long and 100 yards wide. Significant structure damage to a few buildings. No injuries or fatalities.

December 25: Hottest Christmas Day ever in the City of Houston with a record high of 83. Old record was 82 in 1964

December 26: 11 tornadoes devastate portions of N TX including Garland and Rowlett. The Garland/Rowlett tornado was rated EF 4 at its maximum intensity and was on the ground for 11.3 miles. The tornado damaged over 1200 homes and buildings and killed 8 persons. This was the deadliest tornado in Dallas County in over 50 years and the strongest December tornado since 2000 anywhere in the US.

December 27: Blizzard conditions cripple much of W TX and E NM with many inches of snow and snow drifts of 5-9 ft in Lubbock and Amarillo. Winds of 50-70mph across SW OK and NW TX result in extensive ground blizzard and white out conditions closing many highways. Snow is still on the ground as of January 3 in some areas of W TX.

December 31: City of Houston ends 2015 as the 5th wettest year on record with 70.03 inches of rainfall. 2015 was the 3rd wettest year on record for College Station with 58.31 inches of rainfall. December 2015 is also the warmest December on record for the US with over 12,000 daily record highs established.