Forecasters promise sunshine all week long

North Texans could finally bask under sunny skies Sunday or get out and clean up water damage, a welcome change expected to continue for the rest of the week.

But a flood warning remains in effect until Tuesday as runoff continues from rivers and lakes swollen from May’s record rainfall.

“We still have a very fluid situation on our hands,” Chad Lorance of the Tarrant Water Regional District said Sunday in an email. “There are still some potential flooding issues at Lake Bridgeport with low-lying homes and the major thoroughfares in the area.”

Lorance said releases from Lake Bridgeport will affect Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Worth. In fact, Sunday night the Fort Worth Office of Emergency Management issued an advisory saying the discharge from Eagle Mountain Lake, which was full and closed to boaters, was being increased.

The increase, ordered by the Tarrant Regional Water District, will take about eight hours to reach Lake Worth, which was also full and closed to boaters. The water is expected to reach 596.6 feet by 6 p.m. Monday. At that level, even boat wakes could flood homes, and some boat docks may be underwater, the advisory says.

Lorance wrote, “Our focus right now is minimizing any impact those releases may have downstream. This is by no means over, and we still have a lot of work to do.”

Stephanie Parker of the Ellis County Emergency Management tweeted Sunday that homes in the town of Bristol were starting to flood. She suggested evacuation over the next 24 hours.

The Lone Star Weather Center reported water in three homes in Bristol. The Bristol Volunteer Fire Department issued a statement saying the Trinity River had reached major flood stage there and predicted it would breach the levee Tuesday evening if not sooner, The Ellis County Citizen reported Sunday evening on Facebook.

As of Sunday, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport had received 16.96 inches of rain for the month, a record. The old record was 13.66 inches, established in May 1982.

Judi Pierce, a spokeswoman for the Brazos River Authority, which operates Possum Kingdom and Lake Granbury, said floodgates remain open at Possum Kingdom dam.

“It will take several days for the runoffs,” Pierce said.

Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Worth are both full.

The Army Corps of Engineers continued to closely monitor the flows into its five DFW reservoirs — Ray Roberts, Lewisville, Grapevine, Joe Pool and Lavon — that were above flood stage.

Lewisville Lake closed to boats

Some homes around Lewisville Lake were flooded, officials said. On Sunday morning, the lake was at a record 537.02 feet, said Clay Church, a spokesman for the corps’ Fort Worth district. The previous record, 536.73, from May 4, 1990,was broken Saturday with a reading of 536.83 feet.

The corps has closed Lewisville Lake to boat traffic until it can determine whether the water has subsided to safe levels. Hazards include debris, displaced wildlife and the potential for boats to push water into someone’s home near the lake.

Uncontrolled spills from Lewisville and Grapevine lakes led to river flow control problems in Dallas, city spokeswoman Saya Syed said Sunday night.

The city of Dallas closed streets near Northwest Highway/Stemmons Freeway (Interstate 35E) on Sunday afternoon because of street flooding.

City officials asked motorists not to drive around barricades and into the water.

The Texas Department of Transportation shut down north- and southbound lanes of Loop 12 from Irving Boulevard to Interstate 30 for seven days starting last Friday because of major flooding on the highway.

Staff writer Monica S. Nagy contributed to this report, which includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published May 31, 2015 at 11:37 AM with the headline "Forecasters promise sunshine all week long."