Rain in Dallas-Fort Worth will increase flood threat Tuesday night, Wednesday morning
Tuesday was wet and rainy in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, with the threat of flooding increasing into the overnight hours and Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
A batch of storms moved northeast over the region about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, leading to light rain as many residents set out on their morning commute. Patricia Sanchez, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said rain is expected to fall off and on, with some periods of heavy rain. There could also be lightning strikes with the storms.
Some areas could see sporadic periods of pea-size hail, according to the weather service.
The heaviest rain is expected Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, though the specific timing isn’t clear, Sanchez said. The precipitation, she said, is expected to taper off in the early afternoon Wednesday.
The region could see 1 to 2 inches of rain throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, she said.
In some areas like construction sites or low-lying land, she noted, that’s enough to cause flooding conditions.
“When it rains a little bit,” she said, “they can get those ponding areas.”
The weather service hadn’t announced a flood watch Tuesday morning, but a hazardous weather outlook for the DFW area noted “widespread rain is expected today across all of North and Central Texas” and flooding in some spots is possible.
Sanchez said the region to the south and southeast of the DFW region including Waco could see heavier rain, with 2 to 4 inches expected. That includes areas east of I-35 and south of I-30, according to the hazardous weather outlook.
There could reportedly be “some flooding issues” in those areas.
But all across North Texas, Sanchez said there are low-lying urban areas that could be prone to flooding through Wednesday. The threat for widespread flash flooding, however, is unlikely, she said.
It will dry out Thursday, but a chance of rain will return to the forecast this weekend.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 10:09 AM.
