Downpours to unleash flash flooding in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas
Inches of rain are forecast to pour down on a zone from central and eastern Texas to southeastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas in the coming days, which can trigger dangerous flash flooding.
Downpours will be strewn across the Interstate 10 and 20 corridors of the southern United States from New Mexico and Texas to Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas into midweek. In some instances, the heavy rain will be associated with gusty and severe thunderstorms.
Some of the most intense thunderstorms from large complexes will focus on parts of Texas into Tuesday night, with some areas potentially blasted by more than one severe storm with high winds, hail and flash flooding in 24 hours.
Should a large complex of thunderstorms reach its peak intensity, a long-lived high wind event that tracks for hundreds of miles could unfold. The weather community refers to such a potentially large, damaging thunderstorm complex as a derecho.
At this time, AccuWeather meteorologists believe that a derecho is unlikely, but some communities can face damaging weather as storms become intense for a brief time and lead to regional power outages.Have the app? Unlock AccuWeather Alerts™ with Premium+
A storm swinging out from northern Mexico will track across the South Central states from Wednesday to Friday, setting the stage for thunderstorms to erupt in a very moist environment created by the Gulf.
This setup will unleash the tremendous amounts of moisture in the atmosphere in the form of torrential downpours where up to a few inches of rain can pour down in a few hours or less. This alone can trigger rapid flooding of city streets, turn dry washes into raging torrents and lead to rapid rises on some streams and rivers in the region from central Texas to western Arkansas, including southeastern Oklahoma and perhaps northwestern Louisiana.
"Some of the heaviest rain and perhaps a concentration of flash flooding is likely to occur along the I-35 corridor of Texas and southern Oklahoma and includes the major cities of Dallas, San Antonio and Austin, Texas," AccuWeather Senior Storm Warning Meteorologist Eddie Walker said.
Where the downpours repeat over a number of days, 6-10 inches of rain could fall in localized areas, which can lead to flooding on a more regional basis.
Much of the zone where the heaviest rain will fall is not in drought, as downpours since the early spring have replenished soil moisture and then some.
There are some areas, mainly south and west of Austin, where drought is serious and any non-flooding rainfall would be welcomed. However, even in part of this zone of south-central Texas, too much rain can fall too fast and lead to dangerous flash flooding.
"In Texas, many droughts end in floods," AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said, "However, in this case, flash flooding won't discriminate between drought and saturated areas."
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