Sunday, May 5, 2024
Hood County experienced a long rainy day on Oct. 25 that led to high rainfall totals and some minor flooding.
The National Weather Service’s rain gauge, which sits in the middle of Granbury measured 4.74 inches. Some of the higher totals were found along Highway 377 totaling 7.27 inches and 6.58 inches near Pecan Plantation.
The NWS issued two flood advisories for Hood County, one at 6:12 p.m. and the other at 10:30 p.m. Both were later replaced with flash flood warnings after rain continued to pour down for hours.
Jennifer Dunn, warning coordination meteorologist with the NWS, added that an advisory is typically issued when minor or nuisance flooding is expected or occurring.
“This is usually issued when flooding of the normal trouble spots occurs, or creeks and streams are rising or overflowing a little bit. A flash flood warning means life-threatening flooding has occurred or (is) anticipated. Flooding is beyond the normal trouble spots and people need to take actions to protect themselves (in these cases).”
Dunn continued, “One of the main contributors was the moisture from Hurricane Otis that carried into our region (and) played a large factor in the higher rainfall totals.”
According to the Brazos River Authority’s Lead Hydrologist Chris Higgins, areas around the upper end of Lake Granbury, including Tolar and Lipan, received around three to four inches of rain since yesterday.
“There were areas in the lower portion of the lake that received rainfall totals ranging from six to eight inches. Lake Granbury was about 1.5 feet low before this event and is now near full,” Higgins said.
Higgins noted that a release of water was initiated early in the morning on Oct. 26 to manage the lake at a safe operational level.
Although some culverts are clogged in the Tolar area, Granbury and Lipan report no damage from the storm.
As a result of the heavy rains, the burn ban for Hood County, in place since July 18, has been lifted.
