Flash Flood, Harris
- When
- March 12, 8:00 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Harris County, Houston
- Property damage
- $130,000
- Coordinates
- 29.857, -95.392 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Texas, March 12, 1997
Training rains caused significant flooding throughout the Houston metropolitan area. Many bayous/streams were overbanks for much of the day.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $130,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS HGX wrote it up.
Training rains caused significant flooding throughout the Houston metropolitan area. Many bayous/streams were overbanks for much of the day. Widespread street flooding occurred with HPD receiving 675 flood related calls from 6 AM to 3 PM. Portions of I-10 were shut down from 8 AM to 2 PM due to high waters.
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 52 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:48 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Winter Weather in Vermont, March 12, 1997
- Flood in Oklahoma, March 12, 1997
- Winter Storm in North Dakota, March 12 to 13, 1997
- Flooding in South Dakota, March 12 to 31, 1997
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, March 12 to 14, 1997
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, March 12 to 13, 1997
- Flooding in Iowa, March 12 to 31, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, March 12 to 13, 1997
- Winter Storm in Montana, March 12 to 13, 1997
- Winter Storm in Minnesota, March 12 to 14, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Montana, March 12 to 13, 1997
- Winter Storm in Wyoming, March 12 to 13, 1997
More
Every storm in Texas in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, March 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5595195.