Flooding Rains Just West-Southwest Of The Viewing Area

From Meteorologist Brandon Rector...

Heavy rain continues to fall just outside of the viewing area to our west and southwest. Several counties in that area are under a Flash Flood Watch, and some have already had Flash Flood Warnings. You will want to be very careful if you are traveling west today. In our area, Mitchell and Scurry counties are under a Flash Flood Watch until 4 p.m. this afternoon. We will keep you updated on the latest if these conditions change.

The reason for this rainfall is the upper level disturbance we have been talking about all week. It is transforming into an upper level low in northern Mexico/southern Arizona and will likely become cut-off from the main flow of the jetstream. It looks like it is going to hang out for a couple of days before retrograding west a little bit and then moving northeast sometime this weekend. The low should be just enough west to keep us out of the bulk of the rainfall, but we could still see some showers and thunderstorms in mainly the western portions of the area the next couple of days.

Where you live in the Big Country will determine the type of weather you see today. If you are west of Abilene, you will likely see mostly cloudy skies, a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms, and highs in the low 70s. From Abilene eastward, you can expect partly cloudy skies, a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, and highs in the upper 70s to low 80s. Tonight should be partly cloudy area-wide with a 20% to 30% chance of rain and lows in the mid to upper 50s.

On Friday, the western communities may see more showers and thunderstorms depending on where the upper level low has set up. For now, I'll go with a 20% chance of rain from Sweetwater westward. Skies should be partly cloudy with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s. Football games for Friday night should be okay, but if you are going to a game in the western communities or towards Midland you'll want to put the rain gear in the car just in case. At this time, the weekend and early next week look dry with partly cloudy skies and highs in the low 80s.

Have a terrific Thursday!