Status: Active as of 1:47 PM PDT (3:47 PM CDT), Saturday, September 19, 2026. The National Weather Service office in Midland/Odessa has updated its Flash Flood Warning for west central Pecos County, Texas — the warning is in effect until 6:15 PM CDT. This is a live snapshot: conditions change fast, so always verify with the National Weather Service for your specific county or ZIP code before making decisions.
This is an update to the warning NWS issued at 3:22 PM CDT. The warned polygon is unchanged — west central Pecos County — but the update adds detail that matters: Doppler radar now estimates an expected rainfall rate of 2 to 3 inches in 1 hour on top of the 1 to 2 inches that have already fallen, and the warning names the specific drainages in the path of the water — Barrilla Draw and Coyanosa Draw.
West Central Pecos County — Flash Flood Warning
Issuing office: NWS Midland/Odessa, Texas (weather.gov/maf)
Updated: Saturday, September 19 at 3:41 PM CDT
Expires: Saturday, September 19 at 6:15 PM CDT
Certainty: Likely · Urgency: Immediate · Severity: Severe
Per the NWS alert, verbatim:
At 341 PM CDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1 and 2 inches of rain have fallen. The expected rainfall rate is 2 to 3 inches in 1 hour. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly.
HAZARD…Flash flooding caused by thunderstorms.
SOURCE…Radar indicated.
IMPACT…Flash flooding of small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as other poor drainage and low-lying areas.
Some locations that will experience flash flooding include… Mainly rural areas of West Central Pecos County.
This includes the following streams and drainages… Barrilla Draw and Coyanosa Draw.
Read that rainfall line carefully: 1 to 2 inches already down, with an expected rate of 2 to 3 inches per hour where the storms are hitting hardest. In West Texas draw country, that kind of rate on saturated draws like Barrilla and Coyanosa means water rising in places that were dry an hour ago. This is mainly rural territory — ranch roads, low-water crossings, oilfield access routes — where flooding shows up as a washed-out crossing rather than a city street closing.
The NWS instruction for this warning: “Turn around, don’t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles.” The update also adds a reporting request: “Please report observed flooding to local emergency services or law enforcement and request they pass this information to the National Weather Service when you can do so safely.”
Stay safe tonight
Flash flooding in rural West Texas kills at low-water crossings. Never drive through flooded roadways — even a few inches of fast water can move a vehicle, and draw crossings hide washouts underneath. At night the risk compounds: water over a ranch or county road is nearly invisible under headlights until you are in it.
If water enters your home: stay out of standing water where electricity may be present, avoid the basement until water recedes and power is confirmed off, and photograph everything before you touch anything — documentation matters for insurance. Then call a local restoration contractor promptly: water left sitting starts a second wave of damage within a day, and desert-calcite well water mixed with storm runoff is not the clean water you can air-dry.
If you are traveling: reroute around the warned draws. The warning runs until 6:15 PM CDT, but creeks and draws stay dangerous after the rain stops — give the water time to drain before trusting a crossing.
What this means for restoration teams
This is the signature section, and for this event it has a specific shape: a rural West Texas flash flood with an extreme short-term rainfall rate. Here’s the operator read:
- Damage categories to expect: Interior water intrusion in low-lying homes and ranch houses, saturated drywall and insulation in ground-floor rooms, well/pump contamination, and — where draws jump their banks — mud and sediment deposits inside structures. That sediment changes the job: silt-laden water is a contamination step up from clear rainwater intrusion, which means more tear-out and more documentation for the file.
- The demand window: Water-intrusion calls typically start within hours of water receding and keep coming for days as people discover damage. In rural Pecos County, discovery lags — a flooded ranch house may sit hours before anyone sees it — so the call curve here stretches longer than an urban event of the same size.
- Stage now: With an expected rate of 2 to 3 inches per hour inside a warning running to 6:15 PM CDT, pre-position drying assets toward the I-10 / Fort Stockton corridor before dark. Keep an on-call rotation through the morning: Saturday-evening calls from this event land overnight.
- First-call capture: Get the address, the water source (draw overflow? low-water crossing washout? direct intrusion?), and the affected areas on the first call. Ask whether the structure took sediment — if it did, flag the job for a contamination-scope estimate from the start.
- Field discipline: Photo-document before mitigation, moisture-map every affected room, and keep the homeowner’s payment responsibility clear in writing before work starts. Ranch properties sometimes carry thin or lapsed coverage — confirm before equipment rolls.
FEMA & federal assistance
If your home or business took flood damage and your needs aren’t covered by insurance, FEMA assistance may apply once a disaster is declared. The FEMA Helpline is 1-800-621-3362 (7 a.m.–10 p.m. local time, 7 days a week). You can also apply at DisasterAssistance.gov, through the FEMA app, or find in-person help at fema.gov/drc.
Basic eligibility: U.S. citizenship or qualified status, identity verification, proof of occupancy or ownership of the damaged property, and unmet needs not covered by insurance. Apply as soon as it’s safe — document everything first.
Looking ahead
The warning expires at 6:15 PM CDT tonight. Watch for one thing after that: Barrilla Draw and Coyanosa Draw drain slowly, and downstream water can arrive well after the rain ends — a cleared crossing at sunset is not proof it stays cleared at dark. If additional storms fire behind this line, NWS Midland/Odessa would issue new warnings; check the Midland/Odessa office page or weather.gov for your county.
For restoration operators: tonight’s 2-to-3-inch-per-hour rates on a mainly rural county are exactly the profile that produces a multi-day call tail. Expect the first calls this evening and a second wave early next week as secondary damage (swollen door frames, cupping floors, musty HVAC returns) surfaces.
Sources & how to verify
- NWS alert: api.weather.gov — Flash Flood Warning, Pecos TX (updated 3:41 PM CDT) — read September 19, 2026
- Issuing office: NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
To verify for your own county or ZIP: enter it at weather.gov or go straight to the Midland/Odessa office page for the latest warnings in the region.
This post is for informational purposes and is not an official weather warning. Always follow instructions from local authorities and the National Weather Service.
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