June 1, 2024 – On the first day of what experts predict will be a record-setting 2024 hurricane season, I thought it would be interesting to see how much rainfall we had in May and so far this year. How wet has 2024 been?
May 2024 rainfall caused the second highest release from Lake Conroe in the history of the San Jacinto River Authority. But whether May 2024 will go into the records books depends on where you live.
Huntsville smashed its record high precipitation total for the month and year to date (YTD).
Conroe also set a record for May, but its YTD total fell slightly behind the record set in 1935.
Bush and Galveston came close to their record high totals for May and YTD.
At all four reporting stations that I sampled, YTD rainfall was well above normal.
However, the National Weather Service showed dramatic differences between locations.
More Than 5X Difference Across Region
According to the National Weather Service, Huntsville had the rainiest May since record keeping began – 24.7 inches. That brought Huntsville’s total for the first five months to 58.97 inches – about 10 inches higher than the average rainfall for an entire year.
58.97 inches is also almost triple the normal year-to-date (YTD) total for Huntsville.
At other reporting stations during the last 25 years:
Conroe had its rainiest May – 12.58 inches
Bush Intercontinental Airport had the fifth rainiest May – 11.05 inches.
Galveston had its fourth rainiest May. But it was only 4.39 inches.
Huntsville received more than five times the rainfall in Galveston during May. That shows how high the rainfall was in the northern part of the San Jacinto River Basin.*
These statistics demonstrate three things:
May was very wet.
2024 has been very wet so far.
Rainfall across the region has varied dramatically.
Conroe, Bush Intercontinental and Galveston did not set records for May. But their monthly totals all fell into the top quintile of the last 25 years. And that helped bring YTD totals to near record highs at all sampled locations.
See graphs below arranged geographically from north to south. The boxes superimposed over the graphs show the years of the record high and low totals for YTD precipitation as well as the precipitation in a normal year.
Note: Record year at this location so green and blue lines coincide.
2024 YTD Totals Compared to Normal YTD
When comparing normal YTD totals to 2024’s, we can see that:
Huntsville is 193% ahead of normal.
Conroe is 73% ahead.
Bush Intercontinental Airport is 51% ahead.
Galveston is 58% ahead.
2X Differences in Lake Houston Area
Rainfall can vary dramatically within much smaller areas than the Houston region. Take the Lake Houston Area, for instance. According to the Harris County Flood Warning System, during May 2024, the gage at:
US59 and the West Fork received 13.76 inches of rainfall.
West Lake Houston Parkway and the West Fork received 16.56 inches.
FM1960 bridge across Lake Houston received 12.28 inches.
Slightly upstream, FM1485 and the East Fork received 22.8 inches.
That meant an almost 2X difference between the high at FM1485 and the low at FM1960. The two locations are just nine miles apart.
80% of Annual Rainfall in First 5 Months
I live just two miles from the gage at the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge and recorded an almost identical amount of rainfall in my back yard.
My gage received 16.45 inches for the month. That was just a tenth of an inch less than the Harris County Flood Control gage at WLHP.
And that brought my total rainfall for the year to 40.12 inches. Our average annual rainfall is only 50 inches. So we’re already at 80% of a normal year. I received a third of an average year in the month of May alone.
So, it was a very wet month for the Rehak household, even though we received 8 inches less than Huntsville’s mind-boggling 24 inches.
Today, another hurricane season starts. All early predictions indicate it could be a record-setting season. So keep those umbrellas handy.
Posted by Bob Rehak on June 1, 2024
2468 days since Hurricane Harvey
* Footnote: The NWS charts below all show monthly rainfall for the last 25 years. I have sorted the years in descending order based on May rainfall totals and highlighted where 2024 ranks for each reporting station.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/4PM-Front.jpg?fit=1100%2C632&ssl=16321100adminadmin2024-06-01 11:57:332024-06-01 12:18:36How Wet Has 2024 Been?
The San Jacinto River Basin includes 28 watersheds and all or parts of 11 counties. We’ve experienced more than $12 billion in flood damages since 1975. And yet, incredibly, no one is in charge of drainage.
Map of San Jacinto River Basin and its watersheds, courtesy of SJRA.
We also have 1092 political subdivisions with flood-related authority. Yet no one is in charge of drainage.
We Work in Silos to Solve a Common Problem
That’s right. No one person is in charge of drainage. Instead, thousands of individuals working in their own little silos are scattered across more than 5,000 square miles. Unfortunately, stormwater doesn’t respect all those jurisdictional boundaries.
The San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group (reporting to the Texas Water Development Board) highlighted a “critical need for interagency coordination.” But there is none.
When No One is in Charge of Drainage, We All Suffer
Ironically, Texans won independence at the battle of San Jacinto. And we’ve been fighting to maintain it ever since.
We are so fiercely independent, we deny our interdependence. Even when it means destroying our own property and lives. It’s time to take a look in the mirror, folks.
Many ways exist to rank flood-prone areas and Texas ranks high on most of them.
Most hurricanes? Out of the 300 hurricanes that made landfall in the US since 1851, Texas ranks #2 after Florida with 66 hitting the Lone Star state – 22% of the U.S. total.
Percentage of state’s total population living in floodplains? Texas ties for 10th according to a 2017 study. But a 2023 TWDB study shows that 20% of Texans now live in floodplains; that would tie us for 3rd if nothing else changed.
Most disaster declarations? Texas ranks #2 when considering all types.
Flood deaths? Texas ranks #1. Two hundred people died between 2010 and 2022. Over a longer period of time, 1959-2014, the state had over 850 flood deaths.
Flood control is one area where Texans have room for improvement. But to improve we’ll need to work together.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/30/2024
2466 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Challenge.jpg?fit=1100%2C674&ssl=16741100adminadmin2024-05-30 22:27:392024-05-30 22:31:5228 Watersheds, 11 Counties, $12 Billion in NFIP Claims, No One in Charge
The lakefront side of restaurant row is now shut in by sand collecting trash and logs swept downstream. The restaurants there, such as Chimichurri’s, Sharky’s, Raffa’s, and Zammitti’s, serve outstanding food and even more outstanding views. But at the moment, it’s not quite the romantic place for a marriage proposal at sunset. See the pics below.
Looking south from over waterfront restaurants at sand deposited by storm. Looking SW toward West Lake Houston ParkwayReverse angle. Looking north toward restaurant row and apartments beyond.
Dredging Costs Tough on Small Associations
Perhaps dredging companies are offering “buy one, get one free” deals next month.
Seriously, mobilization costs for dredging are so high that it makes sense to spread those costs over as many jobs as possible. By working together, the Kingwood Service Association and Kings Harbor could cut their mobilization costs in half.
Origin of Sand?
During the flood, I clocked the speed of debris floating in the water near this location. It was moving at 5-6 MPH, exactly the same speed as water moving through sand mines upstream on the West Fork. That’s more than enough to transport sand as you can see below from this industry-standard Hjulström curve.
River speed shown in blue. Size range for sand shown in red.
Did all the sand come from West Fork sand mines? No. The speed was also enough to erode riverbanks as you can see above. But the sand mines between US59 and I-45 expose approximately 33 times more sand to erosion.
Yesterday, I posted about the likely source for the sand blocking the Kingwood Diversion Ditch at River Grove Park. The same arguments apply here.
We need sand, but we also need to make sand miners operate more responsibly.
Posted by Bob Rehak on May 27, 2024
2463 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240527-DJI_20240527123652_0882_D.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2024-05-27 15:20:342024-05-27 15:20:35Kings Harbor Now Harborless After Flood
How Wet Has 2024 Been?
June 1, 2024 – On the first day of what experts predict will be a record-setting 2024 hurricane season, I thought it would be interesting to see how much rainfall we had in May and so far this year. How wet has 2024 been?
May 2024 rainfall caused the second highest release from Lake Conroe in the history of the San Jacinto River Authority. But whether May 2024 will go into the records books depends on where you live.
Huntsville smashed its record high precipitation total for the month and year to date (YTD).
Conroe also set a record for May, but its YTD total fell slightly behind the record set in 1935.
Bush and Galveston came close to their record high totals for May and YTD.
At all four reporting stations that I sampled, YTD rainfall was well above normal.
However, the National Weather Service showed dramatic differences between locations.
More Than 5X Difference Across Region
According to the National Weather Service, Huntsville had the rainiest May since record keeping began – 24.7 inches. That brought Huntsville’s total for the first five months to 58.97 inches – about 10 inches higher than the average rainfall for an entire year.
58.97 inches is also almost triple the normal year-to-date (YTD) total for Huntsville.
At other reporting stations during the last 25 years:
Huntsville received more than five times the rainfall in Galveston during May. That shows how high the rainfall was in the northern part of the San Jacinto River Basin.*
These statistics demonstrate three things:
Conroe, Bush Intercontinental and Galveston did not set records for May. But their monthly totals all fell into the top quintile of the last 25 years. And that helped bring YTD totals to near record highs at all sampled locations.
See graphs below arranged geographically from north to south. The boxes superimposed over the graphs show the years of the record high and low totals for YTD precipitation as well as the precipitation in a normal year.
2024 YTD Totals Compared to Normal YTD
When comparing normal YTD totals to 2024’s, we can see that:
2X Differences in Lake Houston Area
Rainfall can vary dramatically within much smaller areas than the Houston region. Take the Lake Houston Area, for instance. According to the Harris County Flood Warning System, during May 2024, the gage at:
That meant an almost 2X difference between the high at FM1485 and the low at FM1960. The two locations are just nine miles apart.
80% of Annual Rainfall in First 5 Months
I live just two miles from the gage at the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge and recorded an almost identical amount of rainfall in my back yard.
My gage received 16.45 inches for the month. That was just a tenth of an inch less than the Harris County Flood Control gage at WLHP.
And that brought my total rainfall for the year to 40.12 inches. Our average annual rainfall is only 50 inches. So we’re already at 80% of a normal year. I received a third of an average year in the month of May alone.
So, it was a very wet month for the Rehak household, even though we received 8 inches less than Huntsville’s mind-boggling 24 inches.
Today, another hurricane season starts. All early predictions indicate it could be a record-setting season. So keep those umbrellas handy.
Posted by Bob Rehak on June 1, 2024
2468 days since Hurricane Harvey
* Footnote: The NWS charts below all show monthly rainfall for the last 25 years. I have sorted the years in descending order based on May rainfall totals and highlighted where 2024 ranks for each reporting station.
28 Watersheds, 11 Counties, $12 Billion in NFIP Claims, No One in Charge
The San Jacinto River Basin includes 28 watersheds and all or parts of 11 counties. We’ve experienced more than $12 billion in flood damages since 1975. And yet, incredibly, no one is in charge of drainage.
According to the San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group, we also have 92 municipalities and 6.4 million people in the river basin.
We Work in Silos to Solve a Common Problem
That’s right. No one person is in charge of drainage. Instead, thousands of individuals working in their own little silos are scattered across more than 5,000 square miles. Unfortunately, stormwater doesn’t respect all those jurisdictional boundaries.
The San Jacinto Regional Flood Planning Group (reporting to the Texas Water Development Board) highlighted a “critical need for interagency coordination.” But there is none.
When No One is in Charge of Drainage, We All Suffer
Ironically, Texans won independence at the battle of San Jacinto. And we’ve been fighting to maintain it ever since.
We are so fiercely independent, we deny our interdependence. Even when it means destroying our own property and lives. It’s time to take a look in the mirror, folks.
Many ways exist to rank flood-prone areas and Texas ranks high on most of them.
And still, NO ONE is in charge of flood control.
Flood control is one area where Texans have room for improvement. But to improve we’ll need to work together.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/30/2024
2466 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Kings Harbor Now Harborless After Flood
May 27, 2024 – A sweeping line of sand deposited by the early May 2024 flood has left Kings Harbor harborless. Kings Harbor is one of Kingwood’s most popular destinations for eating out – whether you arrive by car, foot or boat.
The lakefront side of restaurant row is now shut in by sand collecting trash and logs swept downstream. The restaurants there, such as Chimichurri’s, Sharky’s, Raffa’s, and Zammitti’s, serve outstanding food and even more outstanding views. But at the moment, it’s not quite the romantic place for a marriage proposal at sunset. See the pics below.
Dredging Costs Tough on Small Associations
Perhaps dredging companies are offering “buy one, get one free” deals next month.
Seriously, mobilization costs for dredging are so high that it makes sense to spread those costs over as many jobs as possible. By working together, the Kingwood Service Association and Kings Harbor could cut their mobilization costs in half.
Origin of Sand?
During the flood, I clocked the speed of debris floating in the water near this location. It was moving at 5-6 MPH, exactly the same speed as water moving through sand mines upstream on the West Fork. That’s more than enough to transport sand as you can see below from this industry-standard Hjulström curve.
Did all the sand come from West Fork sand mines? No. The speed was also enough to erode riverbanks as you can see above. But the sand mines between US59 and I-45 expose approximately 33 times more sand to erosion.
Yesterday, I posted about the likely source for the sand blocking the Kingwood Diversion Ditch at River Grove Park. The same arguments apply here.
We need sand, but we also need to make sand miners operate more responsibly.
Posted by Bob Rehak on May 27, 2024
2463 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.