Issue date: 2/12/04 Section: News

An active storm pattern that is currently stalled over the Gulf of Mexico dumped more than three-and-a-half inches of rain in the Bryan-College Station area in the past three days, according to meteorologists at the National Weather Service in League City, Texas.

Matt Moreland, forecaster for the NWS, said the amount of rain that has fallen is uncommon for this time of the year.

"Normally, we don't see rain this heavy in the winter," he said. "It is more normal in the spring or summer."

Moreland said the large amount of rain is caused by an active storm pattern and a lot of moisture in the atmosphere.

Marion Alcorn, a lecturer in the department of atmospheric sciences, said numerous storm systems form in the Gulf of Mexico this time of year and then continue to migrate north, leaving the area prone to a greater chance of rain.

"Frequent funnel passages and low pressure (systems) in the Gulf always move up the coast, so I wouldn't say it's rare," Alcorn said.

Alcorn said despite the large amounts of rain, that he does not expect any flooding problems because the rain is not falling fast enough.

"You can get significant flooding with one thunderstorm in a short period of time," he said. "But if you get the same amount over several days, the streams carry (the water) away."

Alcorn said between the winter and summer months, that a change occurs and a lot more activity takes place with funnel systems.

"Every three to four days, a front will go through," he said. "It won't normally bring rain like this though."

Marshall Wallace, drainage foreman for the city of College Station, said
there have not been any flooding problems in the area, but crews are keeping an eye on the creeks.

"The rain has slacked up a bit, which gives the water a chance to let up. Otherwise we would have a couple of roads underwater," Wallace said.
Dick Williams, associate vice president for Physical Plant, said the campus has a three-way drainage system to take care of the abundance of water to prevent major problems.

The water that collects near the front of the campus, near New Main Street, drains to Wolf Pen Creek; the rest of main campus drains out to B creek, located behind University President Robert M. Gates' house, and any water on West Campus drains into the Brazos River, Williams said.

Williams said when it rains really hard, that the system will back up and it takes some time to get the water to drain out; otherwise the system works pretty well.

Daniel Leschber of the College Station Police Department traffic division said numerous accidents occurred Wednesday because of the bad weather.

"Ninety percent of them were because of people driving too fast for the road conditions," he said.

No roads were closed due to flooding, Leschber said.

Moreland said the Bryan-College Station area will receive a break from the rain Thursday, but a cold front will bring in more rain over the weekend.

"It won't be too pleasant," he said.

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