WeatherFanatics: Severe Storms, Flooding Risk From Houston to New Orleans

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Severe Storms, Flooding Risk From Houston to New Orleans

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

May 27,2014; 9:28PM,EDT

The potential for thunderstorms with flash flooding and locally damaging winds will crawl eastward this week, extending from Houston to New Orleans and northward to Arkansas.
On Tuesday, locally severe storms with will impact Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, Texas, Shreveport and Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Texarkana, Arkansas.

Potions of eastern Texas may end up with 10 inches of rain for the month of May.
Houston has been hit with drenching, gusty thunderstorms for the second day in a row on Tuesday. Three inches of rain fell on the metro area on Memorial Day, and heavy storms wasted no time moving in Tuesday morning.
As one batch of showers and thunderstorms moves slowly eastward on Tuesday, new storms will erupt over central and eastern Texas.

On Wednesday, the drenching storms will persist over parts of eastern Texas, while repeating locally gusty thunderstorms spread farther east in Louisiana, eastern Arkansas, Mississippi and western Tennessee. As the amount of rain trends upward in this area, the risk of flash and urban flooding will increase.
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The storm system will continue to bring heavy rainfall and the potential flooding through the end of the week over a large part of the South Central states.

This is the same storm system that delivered heavy rain to portions of the southern and central High Plains late last week into the Memorial Day weekend.
While long-term drought conditions continue over much of this area, the rainfall is a big step in the right direction.

May 2014 Rainfall (1st-26th)

Location	Rainfall (Inches)
Amarillo, Texas	3.55
San Angelo, Texas	7.75
Lubbock, Texas	5.23
Midland, Texas	2.26
Roswell, N.M.	4.45
Oklahoma City	3.47
San Antonio	4.69
Houston	7.16
Victoria, Texas	6.20

Some areas such as Limon, Colorado; Gage, Oklahoma; Dodge City, Kansas; and Wichita Falls, Texas, managed to receive significantly less rain than their neighbors. Less than 1 inch of rain fell over the duration of the event.
However, much more rain is needed over the summer throughout the central and southern High Plains, but that rain should come.
According to AccuWeather Long-Range Expert Paul Pastelok, "We expect additional rain from the summer monsoon to kick in early over much of the central and southern High Plains and should go a long way to further dent the drought."

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