Tropical moisture fueling flash flooding risk in Texas, Southeast
Tropical moisture will stall from Texas to the Carolinas this weekend, producing heavy rain and thunderstorms that will be capable of flash flooding problems well into next week.
Oct 25, 2016; 9:54 AM ET Flooding is a leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms are set to return to South Texas late this week, eventually expanding across much of the I-10 and I-20 corridors of the Southeast later this weekend. The downpours could be heavy enough to deter outdoor plans, flood roads and put some people at risk.
While, the Atlantic hurricane season remains quiet, tropical moisture can still produce dangerous impacts, which could be the case this week.
Gulf storm to roll into Texas
A cluster of thunderstorms emerging from the Gulf of America is expected to drift into southern Texas Thursday evening.
“A batch of tropical downpours and thunderstorms over the southwestern Gulf likely will not have enough time to organize before moving inland, but it will raise the risk for localized flash flooding and gusty winds in South Texas and northeastern Mexico from Thursday night to Friday evening," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
These thunderstorms will be capable of producing torrential downpours and localized flash flooding from Brownsville to Corpus Christi, Texas, especially in low-lying areas and locations with poor drainage. The heaviest thunderstorms can produce rainfall rates of 1-2 inches per hour, potentially overwhelming storm drains.
Downpours, flash flood risk to expand east
Farther east, showers and thunderstorms are poised to increase in coverage and intensity as the western Gulf storm fades inland over Texas this weekend.
The South and Gulf Coast states are expected to experience a prolonged period of wet weather pattern from late this weekend through Tuesday.
"The combination of the frontal zone and tropical moisture from the Gulf will combine forces to unleash rounds of downpours and thunderstorms from central and northeastern Texas to northern Florida and the Carolinas," Sosnowski said. "Slow-moving individual downpours and where rain repeats each day will raise the risk of urban and low-lying area flooding."
There is a risk of downpours overwhelming pumping operations in New Orleans, where some of the heaviest rain may fall. Little movement of this boundary into early next week will lead to some areas receiving multiple inches of rain, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 8 inches.
People living along streams or in flood-prone areas are encouraged to closely monitor the forecast into next week. Streams and bayous can quickly rise due to persistent downpours over multiple days. Road washouts are also possible in areas of heaviest rain.
The rain does could bring some benefit to drought-stricken areas.
Drought conditions have remained across portions of northeastern Texas and much of Arkansas this summer. Severe drought also continues from the Florida Panhandle to the Carolinas.
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