DFW sees rain chances return this week

The rain that was expected to drench North Texas on Sunday never materialized, but another round of wet stuff may be on the way later this week.

“We got a little bit, but it wasn’t much,” National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Bishop said.

Dallas/Fort Worth Airport recorded .09 of an inch, and most of the area saw less than one-tenth of an inch.

The chance for rain returns Wednesday and sticks around through Friday, and although Bishop said this front won’t be a drought-breaker, it should be an improvement over Sunday.

Most areas will probably see about half an inch, though a few spots could see closer to an inch. Rain chances range from 40 to 60 percent.

“It will be spread out over a longer period,” Bishop said. “So there’ll be more chances for rain.”

The good news is rain chances appear to be coming regularly, which may be a sign that El Niño is kicking in. Earlier this month, the Climate Prediction Center said there was a 65 percent chance that El Niño would last into spring.

Why that is significant is that El Niño, which occurs when there are above-normal sea-surface temperatures off the Pacific Coast of South America, tends to bring wetter-than-normal winter weather to Texas.

The Climate Prediction Center’s 14-day outlook shows above-normal precipitation through the end of the month.

Bishop said the weather pattern appears to be setting up to bring storm systems through North Texas every three or four days for the next month.

“Certainly, that could be an indicator of El Niño winter,” Bishop said. “Hopefully, we do see more rain chances and they’ll produce more rain.”

Those same outlooks are showing near-normal temperatures for the rest of the month.

It’s a little early to say what the weather will be like for Christmas, but more seasonal temperatures are expected the rest of the week with highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s after Monday’s high in the mid-60s.

There doesn’t appear to be any wintry weather headed to North Texas for the holidays, but forecasters are hesitant to project beyond a week out.

“I’m not showing any Arctic outbreak at the moment,” Bishop said. “Right now, I don’t see anything.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2014 at 4:24 PM with the headline "DFW sees rain chances return this week."