The Flood of October 1994 Revisited
Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 11:52 pm
My next blog shall be one about the incredible flooding of October 1994 in Southeast Texas. The massive rainfall event set many records on the area rivers, as well as records for precipitation of like-sized storms and even possibly maybe setting a new world record for point rainfall in the 6 hour timeframe!
The event all began when the moisture from the remminants of Pacific Hurricane Rosa entered SW Texas on October 15th. Rosa along with a low level flow of moisture off the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a trough combined to produce widespread pws in excess of 2.25 in. Meteorologists recognized that the only thing preventing a large rain event at the time was a lifting mechanism. At the same time the same trough helping to produce the moist flow was bringing a cold front and accompanying low pressure into the area.
The rain began to fall in Southeast Texas on October 15th as the remminants of Hurricane Rosa began to pass through the area. At about the same time, a warm front ahead of the low moved north out of the Gulf of Mexico. On the 15th and 16th, much of the area recieved about half a foot of rain, with some areas between Houston, College Station, and San Antonio accumulating almost 10 inches! The Rosa/warm front combo produced enough rain to cause significant flooding and would have been memoriable if these were the only rains from the storm system. However, for some areas, The heaviest rains were yet to fall.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/1900hu ... ntrynum=30
The October of 1994 Flood was caused by East Pacific Hurricane Rosa remnant, warm front, and cool front that clashed over Southeast Texas. It is very possible that up to 37 inches of rain fell in 6 hours around Kickapoo Creek! This is despite the fact that 25 inches fell in 6 hours! It also talks about if the 62 inches of rain from Hurricane Wilma fell on Southeast Texas. It would be MUCH worse than Ike and the October 1994 flood. The damage and death toll would be catastrophic!
