Flood-weary Texas finally drying out, but near 100-degree heat looms
As the immediate risks for flash flooding in central Texas wane, heat could instead impact residents and rescue crews.
AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter discusses the ongoing flooding disaster in Texas.
An unrelenting wet pattern in central Texas, with nearly-stationary tropical downpours, has come to an end. However, residents and crews could be instead faced with a bout of heat.
The Texas Hill Country has been the center of catastrophic flooding in recent weeks, with drenching rainfall triggering flash and river flooding. Even after the deadly flooding from July 4, more flooding warnings prompted evacuations Sunday, July 13, with river rises again expected.
Drenching rain and flash flooding risks continued through Tuesday morning. Several inches of rain fell in central Texas during this time, prompting numerous flash flood warnings from the National Weather Service.
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A change in the weather pattern unfolding now looks to finally bring some relief to the Texas Hill Country.
"An area of high pressure that has been centered over the Gulf is forecast to slowly move westward this week. Doing so, the tropical moisture that has been streaming into central Texas will be kept away from the region, bringing drier conditions to the center of the state," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex Duffus.
Drier weather settled into central Texas on Wednesday and is likely to stick around through the end of the week to bring several days of mostly rain-free weather for rescue and recovery efforts.
During this time, portions of West Texas and New Mexico instead will be more likely to get repeated thunderstorms, especially in the afternoons and evenings. This includes Ruidoso, New Mexico, which was hit with heavy rain and dangerous flash flooding last week. Farther to the east, a tropical rainstorm is forecast to bring torrential downpours across Louisiana with some thunderstorm activity to reach as far west as the Houston area.
The drier conditions moving into central Texas comes at a cost; with more sunshine, high temperatures are likely to rise for the second half of the week.
While temperatures on Wednesday in cities such as Austin and San Antonio sailed into the upper 90s for the first time this month, temperatures climbed into the lower 90s across the Texas Hill Country. Considering the humidity and strong, summer sunshine, AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures are likely to near 100 F in the hardest hit flood zones and could reach 110 F in eastern Texas.
AccuWeather long-range experts say that wet weather likely returns to central Texas by the end of the month. Residents and crews working in the region should still remain weather-aware in the coming weeks as the risks for flash flooding continue.
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