Rainy days and Mondays

Wow, it sure rained a lot overnight. We mean a lot — more than seven inches fell downtown, more than six in southern Brazoria County, just as much in east Harris County and part of Liberty County. The good news is that most of the heavy rain has moved north of the Beltway, but the bad news is that it's now sitting over Katy, northwest Harris County, Montgomery County, Bryan-College Station, Huntsville ... yeah, you get the idea. So there's a flood watch in effect for Harris, Chambers, Liberty, Brazoria and Galveston counties until 4 p.m. and a tornado watch for much of East Texas until noon (one tornado has been reported at Magnolia Beach on Lavaca Bay). Galveston schools are closed today, as is UH main campus is closed until noon. Metro is reporting delays on some of its routes, but MetroRail is running normally.

As far as flooding, there is some, causing big problems for morning commuters: Big delays have been reported on 288 at the Loop, with the freeway blocked in both directions, and drivers are being advised to avoid the Milam exit to downtown from I-45. Other areas of high water include Greens Bayou at Highway 59, Brays Bayou at Lawndale, Halls Bayou at Jensen, Hunting Bayou at Lockwood and the Loop, Garners Bayou at the Beltway and Clear Creek at 288. Along the coast, an east/southeast wind has pushed tides two or three feet above normal, which isn't making things any better; in Brazoria County, several people had to be rescued from their houses overnight because of rising water.

The good news is that the line of storms is expected to dissipate by late morning. The bad news: Another round of storms should reach Houston later this afternoon, and it could bring at least one or two inches of rain to already wet areas. "The area is pretty saturated right now, hopefully there will be a break between the systems to allow us to dry out a little," National Weather Service senior forecaster Chuck Roeseler told the Chronicle.