Storms could drop a summer’s worth of rain in parts of Texas this week, threatening significant flooding
Slow-moving storms could dump a summer’s worth of rain on parts of Texas this week and pose a significant flash flood threat to the state.
Much of eastern, central and southwestern Texas could see showers heavy enough to trigger flash flooding through Thursday, but the area at greatest risk is the Rio Grande Valley along the U.S.-Mexico border and the southern Edwards Plateau. Austin, Houston and San Antonio are among the major cities that could see at least local flash flooding, especially on Monday and Tuesday.
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The Hill Country also faces the risk of flooding rain, but the highest totals could remain just southwest of the region. The threat comes just over a year after the devastating incident 4th of July flood More than 130 people died there, including 25 girls and two young counselors. Camp Mystic.
Flood alerts were in effect for more than 5 million people through Thursday evening in south central Texas, including Austin, Del Rio, San Angelo and San Antonio.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott enabled the state’s emergency response A call was made on Sunday for government resources, including water rescue teams and helicopters, to be made available to respond to any flooding that occurs.
“Texans are advised to never drive or walk on flooded roads because the water may be deeper and moving faster than they appear,” the governor’s office said in a statement.
Extreme precipitation events like this are becoming more common as planet-warming pollution pushes temperatures higher as warm air holds more moisture. Weather systems then squeeze this moisture out like a water-laden sponge, slowly and frequently extremely localized showers.
Fueling this threat of heavy rain is abundant Gulf moisture colliding with a stalled front and a pocket of energy in the upper atmosphere. This is a notorious recipe for creating clusters of slow-moving storms that can produce rainfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour.
But pinpointing which towns or cities could see the worst flood impacts is less clear-cut because it depends on where the most persistent storms flare up from day to day.
Guess
The most serious threat of heavy rain of the week is expected in southwestern Texas, near Interstate 10, along the Mexican border, including Del Rio, Texas, to the Rio Grande River.
A Level 3/4 flash flood risk has been issued by the Weather Prediction Center through Wednesday. On Monday, rainfall in this region is expected to intensify in the evening and continue throughout the night.
Rainfall totals in this area could reach 2 to 6 inches, with locally higher amounts of up to 10 inches possible. The upper end of this range will be near the level Del Rio usually sees from June through August, falling in just a few days.
The Hill Country could see 1 to 3 inches of rain, with locally higher totals possible. The area is prone to flooding due to steep slopes, shallow soils, and exposed bedrock that pushes heavy rain into the soil rather than allowing it to sink.
The flood threat may finally ease by Friday or Saturday, but some showers and storms will persist, especially in West Texas.
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