Severe weather hits Houston area

HOUSTON – The line of thunderstorms is finally starting to move offshore tonight and areas hardest hit are slowly drying out.

South of I-10, will slowly taper off the rainfall over the next few hours, then just cool and cloudy for the remainder of the night.

Saturday will be a much better weather picture with highs back in the mid 80s and just a slight chance of some afternoon showers but nothing like what we've seen today.

Sunday and Memorial Day will be warm and steamy with highs back in the upper 80s.

SCHOOL CLOSINGS AND DELAYS

Some students are actually stuck inside schools in Tomball ISD on Friday.

Students may have to spend the night at school if parents are not able to come get them.

Here is the list of school and the number of students inside:

• - Tomball High School – 20 kids
• - Decker Prairie Elementary – 65 kids
• - Rosehill Elementary – 4 kids

CHECK THE INTERACTIVE RADAR NOW

HIGH WATER LOCATIONS

PHOTOS: Severe weather and flooding in Montgomery County

AREA FORECAST FOR FRIDAY: Partly cloudy with showers and thunderstorms early in the evening, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the mid 70s. Southeast winds 10-15 mph. Chance of rain 80 percent decreasing to 20 percent.

SATURDAY: Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning, then a 30 percent chance in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 80s. Southeast winds 10-15 mph.

Earlier, strong storms moving out of Waller County produced 2 inches per hour in Hempstead. Record rainfall in Brenham of 17.4 inches in just a few hours. Strongest storms have moved through this morning and will give residents time to survey damage.

Minor flooding on roadways has been ongoing since the rain started. This is nothing unusual with rainfall like this. It recedes quickly once the rain stops.

Most of the bayous in the county will be OK (see map below). Spring Creek, Willow Creek and Little Cypress Creek are out of their banks and flooding is ongoing. Home flooding is most likely in these areas.  I think Cypress Creek (yellow markers below) may be dodging a bullet. The rain there is quickly diminishing and the bayou gages seem to be peaking right at the “top of bank” level. If all goes well, Cypress Creek will start to go down without major problems.

The band of rain will continue to migrate south. As long as that trend continues, Metro Houston can stay optimistic!

A confirmed tornado touched down near Wixom Valley Thursday afternoon. The funnel was moving at a reported speed of 25 mph.

70 mph wind gusts and quarter sized hail are possible from this morning's severe thunderstorms.

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Tomorrow's thunderstorm activity is more likely to affect the Houston metro area.