Storm Moving To Austin Area Bringing Torrential Rains

Heavy rains headed to Austin will continue — and worsen — over the weekend, led by a fast-moving storm cell that was approaching Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm, was moving north-northeast between 26 and 29 mph.

Authorities have activated the Austin-Travis County Emergency Operations Center to coordinate public safety and transportation operations for weekend events such as the Formula 1 Fan Fest and the Texas game against Kansas and to monitor weather conditions.

The entire Austin metro area is under a flash flood watch until Sunday morning as heavy rain amounting to 5 to 10 inches threatens to overwhelm low-lying areas, urban creeks and streams in Central Texas, the weather service said.

Heavy rains will occur throughout the weekend as an upper-level low pressure system that is slowly marching across Texas and will interact with Hurricane Patricia — now the strongest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere — as it turns inland from the Pacific coast of Mexico, according to forecasters.

Forecasters said Central Texas should expect locally heavy rain with thunderstorms to increase through Saturday night. The heaviest rains are expected late Friday night and Saturday afternoon but the rain threat is expected to shift east by Sunday.