Heavy rain, flash flood watch headed to DFW; how much will it help with the drought?

Finally, the Dallas-Fort Worth area is going to get some rain – and maybe a whole lot.

The National Weather Service in Fort Worth has issued a flash flood watch beginning Tuesday morning that will run through Wednesday night. that includes much of North Texas, including Tarrant and Dallas counties. Forecasters say most areas will see 2 to 4 inches, with some seeing rainfall as high as 6 inches.

And it could help with the drought that has crept back into many parts of Texas over the last two months.

Since Jan. 1, 1.44 inches of rain has fallen at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport – 2.34 inches below normal.

And extreme drought has returned to the Texas Panhandle, and parts of North Texas are listed in severe drought.

"It will definitely help with the drought," said Bianca Villanueva, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

After rainfall chances increase to 80 percent late Monday, that's where they are forecast to stay on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, there's a 70 percent chance of rain, and that drops to 60 percent on Thursday and Friday.

Forecasters say the flooding threat is real.

"There is a higher threat in East Texas, but we can't rule out some problems in a few low-lying areas locally," Villanueva said. The dry conditions over the last several months were attributed, at least in part, to La Niña, which is starting to fade away. La Niña tends to bring warmer, drier winters to Texas.

Bill Hanna: 817-390-7698, @fwhanna

This story was originally published February 19, 2018 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Heavy rain, flash flood watch headed to DFW; how much will it help with the drought?."