Dallas-Fort Worth area under flood watch with heavy rain forecast Wednesday, Thursday
A flood watch is in effect for Dallas-Fort Worth from Wednesday morning into Thursday evening.
Some areas of north central and northeast Texas may see up to 5 inches of rain with some isolated higher amounts, the National Weather Service reported. The rain was expected to begin Tuesday afternoon and continue on-and-off into Thursday.
The showers come to North Texas from the west coast, combined with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean.
“A couple days ago we had that cold front push through that brought the line of storms through the late evening,” Allison Prater, a meteorologist at the weather service, said Tuesday. “As of right now, our winds have turned back to the South and those southern winds are pushing that front back and it’s coming back as a warm front, pushing all that Gulf moisture into our area.”
Strong storms including damaging winds and isolated tornadoes might pop up in the forecast, but Prater said the main concerns are the potential for hail and flooding.
The flood watch is expected to be in effect until 7 p.m. Thursday.
High temperatures will be in the lower 80s, and lows in the upper 60s.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to place state response and recovery resources on standby due to the potential threat of severe storms, heavy rainfall, and flash flooding from a cold front interacting with moisture from Hurricane Pamela, according to a news release. The storms were forecast to move across Texas beginning Tuesday night through the end of this week.
Hurricane Pamela is expected to make landfall Wednesday near Mazatlan, Mexico.
“The State of Texas is prepared to respond to the severe weather that is anticipated to hit our state this week, and Texans can do their part by heeding the guidance of their local officials, preparing for heavy rainfall and flash flooding, and exercising caution as these storms move across the Lone Star State,” Abbott said in the release. “We are working closely with communities in the path of these storms to ensure they have the resources they need to respond.”
This story was originally published October 12, 2021 at 2:22 PM.
