Drenching storms to shift away from storm-battered southern Plains through Sunday
By
Renee Duff, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published May 16, 2020 3:13 PM EDT
Heavy rain on May 14 triggered flash flooding in the Texas community of Vidor.
A storm system will continue its crawl across the Southern states through the end of the weekend, bringing drenching rainfall and locally severe thunderstorms along its path.
As the stormy weather shifts eastward, drier weather is in store across the southern Plains, where last week ended with damaging and drenching thunderstorms.
Thunderstorms on Friday produced dozens of incidents of damaging winds and large hail across western and central Texas and southwest Oklahoma, and a brief tornado was reported in Tillman County, Oklahoma.
This satellite image shows a large area of clouds over the South Central states, indicative of the storm system slowly moving through the area on Saturday morning, May 16, 2020. (CIRA/RAMMB)
CIRA/RAMMB
One round of storms moved through the Houston metro area on Friday afternoon before another wave arrived early Saturday morning, leading to several incidents of street flooding with vehicles stranded in high water.
On Saturday evening, the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center received a report of a tornado over Lake Wright Patman in Bowie County, Texas.
Tornadoes were also reported in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, and Little River County, Arkansas, on Saturday.
"The threat of heavy rain will shift eastward into the lower Mississippi Valley as the storm system weakens on Sunday," AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert said.
AccuWeather meteorologists expect localized flooding to be the greatest threat in this area, as opposed to severe thunderstorms. Still, residents will need to be mindful that any storm can bring gusty winds, along with frequent lightning strikes.
"This rain could act to aggravate flooding concerns that occurred this past Thursday night over portions of Louisiana," Gilbert said.
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People with outdoor plans from Shreveport and New Orleans, Louisiana, to Little Rock, Arkansas, and Jackson, Mississippi, should consider making alternative plans indoor this weekend, due to the risk of storms.
"Those who must travel will need to watch out for ponding on roadways, especially in poor drainage and low-lying areas, and should never drive through floodwaters," Gilbert said.
Reduced visibility from downpours and blowing spray is also expected along stretches of interstates 10, 20, 30 and 55.
Stormy weather will continue to shift eastward across the Deep South Sunday night into Monday, bringing downpours with a localized threat for severe weather to places such as Montgomery, Alabama and Atlanta.
This system will link up with another storm over the Midwest during this time, and the joined storms will then sit and stall over the East for much of the week.
Meanwhile, the southern Plains will get a much-needed reprieve from rain and severe weather through early week.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Severe Weather
Drenching storms to shift away from storm-battered southern Plains through Sunday
By Renee Duff, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published May 16, 2020 3:13 PM EDT
Heavy rain on May 14 triggered flash flooding in the Texas community of Vidor.
A storm system will continue its crawl across the Southern states through the end of the weekend, bringing drenching rainfall and locally severe thunderstorms along its path.
As the stormy weather shifts eastward, drier weather is in store across the southern Plains, where last week ended with damaging and drenching thunderstorms.
Thunderstorms on Friday produced dozens of incidents of damaging winds and large hail across western and central Texas and southwest Oklahoma, and a brief tornado was reported in Tillman County, Oklahoma.
This satellite image shows a large area of clouds over the South Central states, indicative of the storm system slowly moving through the area on Saturday morning, May 16, 2020. (CIRA/RAMMB)
One round of storms moved through the Houston metro area on Friday afternoon before another wave arrived early Saturday morning, leading to several incidents of street flooding with vehicles stranded in high water.
On Saturday evening, the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center received a report of a tornado over Lake Wright Patman in Bowie County, Texas.
Tornadoes were also reported in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, and Little River County, Arkansas, on Saturday.
"The threat of heavy rain will shift eastward into the lower Mississippi Valley as the storm system weakens on Sunday," AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert said.
AccuWeather meteorologists expect localized flooding to be the greatest threat in this area, as opposed to severe thunderstorms. Still, residents will need to be mindful that any storm can bring gusty winds, along with frequent lightning strikes.
"This rain could act to aggravate flooding concerns that occurred this past Thursday night over portions of Louisiana," Gilbert said.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
People with outdoor plans from Shreveport and New Orleans, Louisiana, to Little Rock, Arkansas, and Jackson, Mississippi, should consider making alternative plans indoor this weekend, due to the risk of storms.
"Those who must travel will need to watch out for ponding on roadways, especially in poor drainage and low-lying areas, and should never drive through floodwaters," Gilbert said.
Reduced visibility from downpours and blowing spray is also expected along stretches of interstates 10, 20, 30 and 55.
Stormy weather will continue to shift eastward across the Deep South Sunday night into Monday, bringing downpours with a localized threat for severe weather to places such as Montgomery, Alabama and Atlanta.
This system will link up with another storm over the Midwest during this time, and the joined storms will then sit and stall over the East for much of the week.
Meanwhile, the southern Plains will get a much-needed reprieve from rain and severe weather through early week.
Related:
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo