Houston under flash flood watch through 7 p.m.

Weather forecasters have placed Houston, parts of Harris County and nearby counties along the Gulf Coast under a flash flood watch through 7 p.m. Saturday, as rain began falling early afternoon on areas hit by heavy rainfall during the week.

Showers and thunderstorms continued to hit coastal counties Saturday afternoon, while spreading into the Houston area and prompting the National Weather Service to issue a flood advisory here through 4:15 p.m.

Streets, small streams and low-lying areas in Houston and surrounding towns face the threat of floods, according to the advisory. The area at risk stretches southwest into parts of Brazoria, Fort Bend, Matagorda and Wharton counties.

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A separate flood advisory issued shortly before 2:30 p.m. warned of similar impacts in northeast Harris County and neighboring counties to the east.

Northwest Harris County is outside the area at risk of flash floods, according to the weather service. The flood watch area takes in Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston and Liberty counties, along with parts of Fort Bend, Harris, Montgomery and several others.

Storms were generally heading east and northeast, according to the weather service’s radar.

Shortly before noon, the weather service issued a flood advisory through 1:45 p.m. for Galveston Island, extending to the coast of Brazoria County at Drum Bay.

The weather service further warned that flooding could hit an area north of Lake Houston, including part of Kingwood, through 8:30 p.m. The East Fork of the San Jacinto River could see minor flooding around New Caney, according to the warning released Saturday morning.

Floods could impact streets and highways, and additionally hit homes and structures if flooding worsens, according to a tweet from the weather service.

The area at risk of flooding includes the point where Harris, Montgomery and Liberty counties intersect, with affected areas in each county.

Meanwhile, Harris County will likely see half an inch to an inch of rain between 7 a.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday, according to the weather service.

Two to three inches may fall in Galveston, while isolated areas may see five inches, though it was not clear which areas are at risk for that amount of rain.

A barge collision in the Houston Ship Channel Friday also left a gasoline-like odor over parts of east Harris County. The weather service said the strongest odor would cover areas including Clear Lake, Kemah, League City and Webster through 6 a.m., though several people reported continuing odor past 9:30 a.m.