Recent Updates
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 Texas Severe Weather Week is Feb. 19 – 25
Free SKYWARN storm watcher training will be available at the Annual Lou Withrow SKYWARN training session, scheduled for Saturday, February 18 at the UT JJ Pickle Research Center in Austin. SKYWARN training is open to the public at no charge.
Trained, volunteer SKYWARN storm spotters form the first line of defense against severe weather and help save lives. More information about this day-long advanced training is available at http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/kimmel/skywarn2012.html
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 A cold front will be approaching this evening and move through the area overnight into early Saturday morning triggering more showers/thunderstorms and bringing the risk of flash flooding along with some severe weather. A flash flood watch is in effect for the eastern half of South Central Texas from 8 pm tonight through noon Saturday. Rain totals of 1-2 inches are expected with rain totaling 3+ inches in areas in the eastern half of South Central Texas. Isolated severe threat northern Hill Country.
Details:
A cold front over the Texas Panhandle will approach the area tonight. Plenty of high humidity and moisture will continue to stream up from the Gulf and from Mexico during the overnight hours. This will set the stage for showers and thunderstorms to start forming as early as this evening. Widespread activity is expected to develop during the overnight hours leading to a flooding threat for mainly the eastern half of South Central Texas. Central and eastern areas can expect 1-2 inches of rain, with isolated totals over 3 inches. Because of the heavy rain threat, a Flash Flood Watch has been issued from 8 pm tonight until noon Saturday. The Watch includes those counties along and east of I-35. Like the system on January 25th, most of the heavy rainfall will likely fall during the overnight hours. Main threat time will be from midnight to 8am Saturday with rain chances lingering over the far east into Saturday Afternoon.
Areas hit hard last week with several inches of rain will be under the most threat. This area is generally along and east of Interstate 35 where some areas still have ponding of water in fields and along the sides of roads. No mater where you are in South Central Texas, there is always is a threat of Flash Flooding with 1-2 inches of rain, so even areas outside of the Watch should monitor closely overnight for the flooding threat. Areas west of a Leakey to Cotulla line should see rain totals generally less than 0.5 inches.
The severe threat (hail and damaging winds) is mainly over the northern half of Texas there is a small chance that some areas of South Central Texas may see some hail and damaging winds but this will likely be over the northern Hill Country and should happen before midnight if it happens at all. As we saw from the weather event last week storms with 40+ mph winds have the potential to break/uproot trees. There are a lot of dead trees throughout the area and now much of the ground is wet and saturated.
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 The tornado that occurred in northeast Austin early Wednesday morning has been rated as an EF1, with maximum winds near 100 mph. The damage path was 1.14 miles in length and 50 yards wide. There were no injuries or fatalities
Map
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The tornado path began at the intersection of Commercial Park Drive and Old Manor Road, with radar indicating a touchdown time near 2:58 am. Wednesday. Damage continued north through an industrial park, then across U.S. 290 before entering the Walnut Place subdivision. Further damage occurred to homes on the west side of Happy Trail with trees on the east side of Happy Trail laying down toward the west and converging with the damage to the homes. Debris was noted along Ferguson Lane. The tornado path ended just west of the intersection of Ferguson Lane and Sansom Road. Map
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EMERGENCY CONDITIONS |
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Emergency Conditions information is updated by the City of Austin Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Travis County Office of Emergency Management.
This information includes updates for the City of Austin and Travis County concerning community services, road closures, emergency shelters, and other special circumstances.
Emergency Road Closures
During severe weather, roads may become dangerous before information is posted on this page. Always use caution when travelling in severe weather. ${doctype;id:81175;showSubheading:-1}
Incident Updates History
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The City of Austin is kicking off its annual Flood Safety Poster Contest.
Kids, ages 6 to 13,
can enter their posters,
illustrating the theme,
“Turn Around – Don’t Drown,”
and have a chance to win
several great prizes:
- Gift card, $100 to $25 for first, second, third and fouth place winners.
- Ride on Lady Bird Lake in a swift water rescue boat with an emergency responder.
- Poster printed in a safety calendar(s) and in a Flood Safety insert in the Austin-American Statesman.
This contest is an important way to educate students about the risk of flooding that we all face in Central Texas.
It’s hard to remember in the middle of one of the worst droughts in Texas’ history, but flooding is Austin’s top weather-related emergency and the number-one cause of weather-related fatalities.
Guidelines
- 8 ½ by 11 paper, in landscape orientation.
- Shows the dangers of driving through flood waters.
- Either “Save Yourself! Turn Around – Don’t Drown” or “¡Sálvese! Es mejor regresarse - que ahogarse.” should be the headline
- Due Feb. 24th 2012 (in our hands, not post-marked).
Information to Include on Back of Poster
- Child’s name, grade and age
- Parent’s or guardian’s name, phone number, email and address
- School and teacher’s name, phone number and email (optional)
Submitting Artwork
- Mail to City of Austin, WPD, Attn: Joan Esquivel, P.O. Box 1088, Austin, TX 78767
- Drop off at One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs Road, 12th Floor, Austin, TX 78704
- Email computer-generated artwork to floodawareness@austintexas.gov
- Must be received by Feb. 24, 2012
Note: Artwork will become the property of the City of Austin and will not be returned.
Age Categories 6 to 8 year olds, 9 to 11 year olds and 12 to 13 year olds.
Download the Poster Guidelines
The contest is sponsored by the City of Austin, the Texas Floodplain Management Association, the National Weather Service, the LCRA and the U.S. Geological Survey.
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During severe weather, roads may become dangerous before information is reported. Always use caution when travelling in severe weather. For updated road closures click here.
The following are important points to remember when driving in flood conditions:
- Six inches of water will reach the bottom of most passenger cars causing loss of control and possible stalling.
- A foot of water will float many vehicles.
- Two feet of rushing water can carry away most vehicles including sport utility vehicles (SUV’s) and pick-ups.
The following are guidelines for the period following a flood:
- Avoid floodwaters; water may be contaminated by oil, gasoline, or raw sewage. Water may also be electrically charged from underground or downed power lines.
- Avoid moving water.
- Be aware of areas where floodwaters have receded. Roads may have weakened and could collapse under the weight of a car.
- Stay away from downed power lines, and report them to the power company.
- Stay out of any building if it is surrounded by floodwaters.
- Use extreme caution when entering buildings; there may be hidden damage, particularly in foundations.
- Clean and disinfect everything that got wet. Mud left from floodwater can contain sewage and chemicals.
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