Heavy rains caused more than 70 road closures, the day before the flash floods until Monday

By Liz Teitz, Editor

updated

19h04 CDT, Sunday, September 9, 2018

Editor's Note: This story has been corrected to reflect the alert in the form of a flash watch.

UPDATE: 15:07

The National Weather Service has extended flash flood monitoring for San Antonio and much of central Texas by 9 am Monday morning.

Although little rain is expected for the rest of the Sunday, the watch has been lengthened due to saturation of the area and sensitivity of the area to additional rains expected during the night and morning, NWS reported in a statement. .

The southern part of the country's hills, the Rio Grande plains south of Del Rio and most of the areas along and east of Interstate 35 can expect additional amounts of half an inch rain in the morning.

Although some isolated areas can expect to see 3 to 5 inches more, according to the NWS.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are also expected late in the afternoon and into the evening.

UPDATE: 1:20 pm

Flash flood monitoring for the San Antonio area was extended by the National Meteorological Service until 4:45 pm. A warning for New Braunfels and San Marcos was extended until 4:15 pm.

UPDATE: 11:00 AM

The National Meteorological Service extended its flash flood monitoring for the San Antonio area until 13:45.

Forecasters also report that the San Antonio River near Elmendorf is expected to enter a moderate flood phase due to heavy rains.

THE ORIGINAL HISTORY CONTINUES

A flash flood warning is in effect for Bexar County until 1:45 pm. Sunday, according to the National Meteorological Service.

Heavy storms hit the road during the night and forced the closure of at least 70 roads at 9:00 am, depending on the county, including the lower level of downtown IH-35.

A preliminary report issued by the NWS at 6am indicated that parts of the San Antonio area had received nearly 4 inches of rain since midnight.

Flash flood monitoring was deployed over much of south-central Texas up to 19 hours. Sunday.

RELATED: Total 24-Hour Precipitation for the Suburbs of San Antonio During the Labor Day Storms

Flash flood alerts are effective for the following areas until these times:

• San Antonio, Universal City, Converse – 10:45 am
• New Braunfels, San Marcos, Kyle – 10:15 am
• Lakehills, Lake Medina Shores, Bandera – 10:00

Continuing rain forces parks to close: Comanche Park 1 & 3, Raymond Russell Park, Bullis Park is closed and Rodriquez Park are all closed.

"It's hard to know where the showers will appear, and how long they will linger in an area, but the potential (for stronger rain) is there for the entire region," said meteorologist Yvette Benavides.

Last week's rain saturated the ground, increasing the risk of flooding, she added.

On September 1, San Antonio exceeded its total rainfall by more than 7 inches for the year, but a week later it exceeded that number.

Saturday, the city had measured 21.97 inches of rain in 2018, a little more than normal 21.8 inches, said Benavides.

The outlook for the rest of the week is a little sunnier, with a much lower risk of rain on Friday if the cold front unfolds as expected Sunday night.

The showers are expected to decrease on Monday, she said.

Residual rains could fall throughout the week, but will likely be "very isolated during the day," she said, with only 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms until the day. Thursday night.

The weather service predicted high temperatures in the 1980s and temperatures above 70 degrees for the rest of the week.

[email protected] | @LizTeitz

Editors Ismael Perez and Chris Quinn contributed to this report.