Five Inches of Rain Brings Flash Flooding to Tyler this Morning

The city of Tyler as well as the surrounding area of Smith County has been getting pounded by heavy downpours this morning (8/18).  Up to five inches of rain has fallen in some areas of the county and city.  Much of that rain has fallen in a rather short period of time.  That has caused flash flooding to occur in and around the city.

The National Weather Service in Shreveport recently issued a Flash Flood Warning for all of Smith County until 8:45 this morning.  Another 2-3 inches of rain is still possible around the Tyler area.  The storms have been nearly stationary throughout the morning, with perhaps a small movement from northeast to the southwest.

Numerous reports of impassable roads and water over the roadway have been reported in Lindale, Tyler, Chapel Hill and Chandler.  Heavy rain has also been falling over the past hour just west of Longview, so persons in Big Sandy and Gladewater should be on the lookout for possible flooding this morning.

This pocket of heavy downpours should not make its way into the Lufkin/Nacogdoches area this morning.  The storms continue to be isolated to the Smith County area, stretching south only as far as the Whitehouse area.

There is a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms for Deep East Texas through this afternoon.  There are a few scattered downpours located east of Lufkin and Nacogdoches in and around the San Augustine to Hemphill area.  We have more rain chances for Thursday and Friday before we get hotter and drier for the weekend and the first part of next week.