Tuesday’s heavy storms sent water rushing into Amarillo’s playa lakes, pushing several well above half capacity and leaving at least one overflowing into a major roadway.
The City of Amarillo’s playa lake monitoring data shows just how quickly water levels climbed following the flooding. Several lakes that were below 50% capacity Tuesday saw significant increases, while McDonald Lake remained completely full.
McDonald Lake was already at 100% capacity before the latest round of storms. Overnight, water from the lake spilled onto Coulter Street near 45th Avenue, creating dangerous driving conditions.
The Amarillo Fire Department urged motorists to avoid the area because of the depth of the floodwater. Conditions became severe enough that even fire department trucks could not safely make it through.
Other playa lakes recorded dramatic increases following the storms.
T-Anchor Lake climbed to 83% capacity after sitting at 55% on Tuesday, an increase of 28 percentage points.
Playa 7 saw an even larger jump, rising from 43% Tuesday to 82% following the storms.
Bennett Lake and Lawrence Lake are each at 71% capacity. Bennett was at 50% Tuesday, while Lawrence was at just 43% before the latest rainfall. That means Lawrence gained 28 percentage points in a short period.
Willow Grove Lake is now at 68% capacity, while McCarty Lake has reached 65%.
Martin Lake sits at 51%, putting it just above the halfway mark.
The rising playa levels provide a clear picture of how much water Tuesday’s storms dumped across Amarillo. While the lakes play an important role in collecting stormwater, rapidly rising levels can also contribute to street flooding when heavy rainfall overwhelms the drainage system.
McDonald Lake’s overflow onto Coulter was one of the most visible examples of the problems caused by the storms.
