Flooding, Severe Weather to Lash Texas to Arkansas Thursday

By Chyna Glenn, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

November 4,2015; 10:42PM,EST

 

 

A round of drenching rain and strong thunderstorms will hammer Texas to Louisiana and Arkansas late this week.
According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Becky Elliott, "A cold front will move through Texas late this week and will trigger another round of rain and strong thunderstorms."
This cold front will push across the southern Plains, slowing as it reaches central Texas. It may stall as the week comes to a close, leading to even heavier rain amounts.
On Thursday, heavy rain will develop along this front, reigniting flooding concerns in San Antonio and Columbus, Texas, locations northeast of Houston and southern Louisiana. Many rivers are still in minor to moderate flood stage across this zone.

"How quickly the cold front moves away to the east will determine how long the rain lasts as well as how great the threat for flooding will be," said Elliott.
Widespread rainfall amounts of 1-3 inches will exacerbate current flooding conditions from Thursday into the weekend. However, if the front remains stalled over the region, then rainfall amounts of up to 6 inches will be possible.
RELATED:
POLL: Would You Support a Flood-Related 'Stupid Motorist Law' in Your State?
Flooding Causes Several Florida Roads to Close
Interactive South Central Radar
Some of these storms may become severe on Thursday afternoon and evening, bringing not only torrential downpours and damaging winds, but also the threat for an isolated tornado.
These conditions will make the evening commute hazardous as visibility could be greatly decreased by windswept debris and blinding rainfall.
Those traveling on Interstates 10, 20 and 35 should be aware of the potential for rapidly deteriorating weather conditions on both Thursday and Friday.
The greatest risk for severe weather, including damaging winds, will be on Thursday. However, the more widespread concern will be flash flooding. On Friday, the threat for potentially destructive winds will be lower, but the flood risk will persist.

"While it doesn't appear that this event will be as significant as the previous heavy rainfall events, there is still potential for localized flash flooding," Elliott said.
The flooding concerns stem from an abnormally wet end to October, when more than a foot of rain fell in Houston in less than 24 hours.
At this point, it appears that the heaviest rain will stay north and west of Houston later this week. However, localized downpours will still be a possibility. If the front does stall near the area into Saturday, heavier rain may materialize.
Other cities in central and southern Texas and much of Louisiana received more than twice the normal amount of rain during the month of October.
Despite the substantial flooding during late October, the region was in desperate need for rain. The rain helped to quench drought conditions that plagued parts of the region.
The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that almost of half the South Central states are now drought free, down from only 30 percent of the region just over a week ago.