Here comes the rain again

If you were wondering where all that much-hyped heavy rain was yesterday, just wait: It could get here today. On Tuesday, the band of tropical moisture expected to come on shore and drench us stayed offshore, for the most part, meaning parts of Galveston County and far southeast Harris County got some substantial rain — more than 3 inches — while the rest of us were fairly high and dry. (Speaking of which, did anyone happen to catch the fantastic sunset last night, complete with a rainbow over downtown? It's times like those we wish we had our camera.)

Today, though, a tropical disturbance over South Texas is expected to move north and bring the bands of strong thunderstorms off the coast inland; those storms could cause flooding in the area, especially where a lot of rain fell yesterday. The Houston forecast for today calls for an 80 percent chance of rain, and we're still under a flood watch through this evening . There was also a tornado warning until 8:45 a.m. — a storm capable of producing tornadoes was reported near Meadows, moving northeast toward the villages and Uptown. KTRK is already reporting flooding in southeast Houston and Crosby, and at least 7,000 people are without power this morning. So you'll probably want to keep your umbrella — and a flashlight, maybe — handy.

As for Tuesday's storms, they didn't have a great deal of impact: There was no significant street flooding and minimal power outages, the Chronicle reports, and some flights arriving at Bush Intercontinental Airport in the afternoon were delayed.