Soggy South Central states: Intense downpours to renew flooding risk
Residents across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi will face a heightened risk for drenching storms as this week continues, AccuWeather forecasters warn.
From hail to a rainbow, May got off to a stormy start in Lake Buchanan, Texas.
Starting early this week, a rain-soaked pattern will expand throughout the South Central states, generating a risk for stream and river flooding across the region.
While the most widespread threat is expected to be frequent downpours that can inundate roadways and allow already elevated streams and waterways to approach their banks, AccuWeather meteorologists warn that some locations will also face the threat of severe thunderstorms this week.
Notable drought in place in Texas, Southwest
Areas across southern and western Texas into New Mexico are in dire need of the rain, with levels of extreme and even exceptional drought currently being reported according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
A city like Midland, Texas, has only recorded 0.68 of an inch of rain so far this year, which is 25% of its historical average rainfall to this point. Any rain that reaches this corridor of West Texas will be beneficial given the parched conditions, but may runoff and struggle to be sufficiently absorbed by the hard and compacted soils.
Farther east, there is no drought from the eastern suburbs of Houston to Little Rock, Arkansas, and New Orleans.
Some of these areas are still reeling from the heavy Mississippi Valley rainfall over the last month or more that had trickled downstream, inundating low-lying areas and the southernmost watersheds across eastern Louisiana and western Mississippi.
With repeat downpours in the forecast for much of this week, residents across eastern Texas and Louisiana are advised to monitor when the heaviest rounds may arrive. Intense and frequent rainfall could quickly spell trouble for travelers along portions of interstates 10, 20, 30 and 55.
"The greatest flood risk is primarily due to stream and river flooding, given the notable rain that has fallen over the last few weeks. Areas most susceptible can include locations from Houston to cities in Louisiana like Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and New Orleans," explained AccuWeather Lead Storm Warning Meteorologist Timothy Richards.
Rounds of heavy rain this week
As a slow-moving storm advances eastward out of the Southwest and toward the western Gulf Coast states over the upcoming days, a wet and stormy pattern will grip the region.
An influx of moisture flowing out of the Gulf will help to supply the region with rain and thunderstorms through at least Thursday, forecasters say.
While a widespread region will pick up anywhere from 1-2 inches of rain, amounts on the order of 2-4 inches will be possible from eastern Texas, southern Arkansas and Louisiana to central Mississippi with higher amounts of 4-8 inches in south-central Louisiana.
"This pattern can be a compounding issue with how much rain has fallen across the region lately, that the ground will already be fairly saturated and additional heavy rain will not be as easily absorbed," noted Richards.
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