Gulf Coast system raises flood threat from Texas to Florida through midweek
A low-pressure system moving over the Gulf Coast states will bring heavy rain to drought-stricken areas. However, a lot of rain in a short period will be hard for the dry soil to absorb and may lead to flash flooding.
Rain dampens Texas, shifting into Louisiana Wednesday
After storms in Texas the beneficial rain will move across the South by mid-week, including for drought-stricken states like Louisiana. Up to 1 inch of rain is possible through Wednesday for some Gulf Coast communities.
NEW ORLEANS – The South will have a soggy start to 2024 with a wet weather pattern setting up over the Gulf Coast states, bringing heavy rain and the potential for flash flooding for Texas early in the week and down to Central Florida by midweek.
A parade of low-pressure systems marching across the U.S. will bring a buffet of active weather from rain to snow across the country. In the South, a system moving over the Gulf states will bring heavy rain to drought-stricken areas needing moisture. However, a lot of rain in a short period will be hard for the dry soil to absorb and may lead to flash flooding.
(FOX Weather)
Rain started on Tuesday across south Texas as the area of low pressure began to take shape.
Another wet day is forecast on Wednesday with another inch of rain forecast for South Texas, with higher amounts in isolated areas, including near Corpus Christi.
(FOX Weather)
By Wednesday, the area of low pressure will continue its journey east and be located off the coast of New Orleans in Louisiana by early morning, the FOX Forecast Center said. With this shift, the flash flooding threat will extend over a greater area from Lake Charles, Louisiana, down to Tampa, Florida.
"The energy from the West Coast, that low, tracks into the northern Gulf of Mexico, and it kind of gets its second life," FOX Weather Meteorologist Jane Minar said. "And this warm front is going to be drifted right along the I-10 corridor, shaking up those showers from Lake Charles to New Orleans all the way up through Birmingham, Alabama."
(FOX Weather)
Heavy rain is forecast in Shreveport, Alexandria and Baton Rouge in Louisiana and Gulfport, Mississippi, on Wednesday, with forecast totals between 1-2 inches.
"It's going to be real soggy on the Gulf Coast, central Gulf Coast, as we go into the middle part of the week," Minar said.
(FOX Weather)
On Thursday and Friday, rain will overspread most of Florida and southern Georgia, before moving off into the Atlantic Ocean.
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The South is under various stages of drought, including exceptional drought in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. These areas are in need of moisture, including New Orleans, where the rainfall totals are 16 inches below normal.
"It is going to take a number of storms, not just one, to remove the drought that has unfortunately plagued this area," Minar said.