Lots more rain for the Fort Worth area — but a warmup is on the way

It'll be several more days before the Fort Worth area sees much sunshine, but the cold temperatures won't linger as long, meteorologists say.

Meanwhile, several days of heavy rain have wreaked havoc on local roadways, with flooding and slick streets leading to accidents and numerous temporary road closures at several points along Interstates 30 and 35W.

"It's been quite a bit of rainfall — every few years, we'll get this much rain once or twice a year," said Tom Bradshaw of the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth.

"While it's a little unusual, it's really not rare, by any means."

The weather service predicts a rapid warmup, with high temperatures almost doubling through Saturday.

Thursday "is going to be the coldest day from this point on that we're going to have," Bradshaw said. "We're probably going to see high temperatures in the upper 30s (Thursday), but we're looking at highs in the upper 60s by Saturday afternoon."

A rare combination of fog, mist, near-freezing temperatures and a thunderstorm greeted Fort Worth residents on Thursday morning. The wet and cold is expected to persist through Friday morning, when temperatures begin to rise into the mid-50s.

There's an 80 percent chance of rain Friday, with heavy showers and thunderstorms day and night.

The wet weather will finally begin to taper off sometime Saturday afternoon, the NWS predicts, though a stray thunderstorm will still be possible. The high temperature is expected to reach almost 70 degrees.

"Saturday, more than likely we'll see most of the rain off to our east, but a lot of people in Tarrant will see some rain over the course of the day," Bradshaw said.

Sunday and Monday should be sunny and pleasant, but rain is back in the forecast beginning Tuesday.

"It doesn't look like the pattern will be as wet next week, but we do have another system entering the area during the day Tuesday," Bradshaw said. "Probably not nearly as wet as what we've already experienced."

Stephen English: 817-390-7330, @sbenglish74

This story was originally published February 22, 2018 at 9:27 AM with the headline "Lots more rain for the Fort Worth area — but a warmup is on the way."