Flood Risk on the Bend

In 2019, we hope to focus on helping create more resilient communities by expanding the information shared through this site. We will talk more about what resiliency means for this site and our communities later.

One of the additional items we want to include in 2019 is a weekly flood risk assessment based on the current and forecast conditions for the watershed. Please note that these assessments are only a snapshot of the potential conditions based on the forecasts at the beginning of the week. As always, we recommend everyone stay tuned to their favorite local news agency or weather sites, like Space City Weather, the Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management and/or your community’s website, Facebook, and Twitter feed as well as the National Weather Service for your on demand needs.

Weekly Outlook

The Brazos River in Richmond is currently at Gage Elevation 40.28 (Action Stage).

The unofficial totals from last week’s storms show the majority of the Brazos River Watershed received between 2 to 3 inches of rain with a few personal rain gauges hitting closer to 4 inches upstream of Fort Bend County.  The Brazos River in Hempstead peaked on Sunday around Gage Elevation 40.77 while San Felipe is currently peaking around Gage Elevation 113.8. This morning’s 8:09 AM forecast is showing the Brazos River in Richmond peaking around Gage Elevation 40.7 tomorrow morning. Based on the forecast, we could see the Brazos River stay elevated above Gage Elevation 33 through the end of the week.

This week

This morning’s 7 day forecast is calling for sunny to partly cloudy skies over the next week, except for Wednesday and Thursday. The various forecasts are showing Fort Bend County receiving between 0.5 to 1.5 inches over the next 7 days with the majority of that rainfall falling over Wednesday and Thursday. Based on the current forecasts we do not anticipate flooding along the Brazos River; however, the additional rainfall could impact the current Brazos River forecast and keep it elevated above Gage Elevation 30 into next week. This will all depend on the final amounts of rainfall received.