NWS says there's no timeline to fix damaged rain gauge system at Bush Airport

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- If you've flown out of Bush Airport anytime recently, you know all the construction out there can be frustrating, and that construction is now impacting more than just your travel times.

The National Weather Service is reporting that crews have damaged a rain gauge system, which will affect important record-keeping.

The damage is to an Automated Surface Observing System, owned and operated by the National Weather Service, Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense.

The high-tech system measures rain, wind, humidity - basically anything you can think of, weather-wise.

There's no timeline at this point for when it will be fixed, according to the NWS.

NWS officials say the damage hasn't affected any data needed for forecasting or issuing weather warnings, and for now, they are using rain data from county gauges for record-keeping.

But whatever construction accident damaged this equipment means the official record for rain in the city of Houston is currently on hold.

Records show the NWS has been tracking Houston weather since 1881.

And, as you can imagine, there's been a lot worth recording.

"This is a city with wild weather. It happens year-round," Chief Meteorologist Travis Herzog said. "I jokingly say our severe season, our flood season, starts January 1st and ends December 31st.

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