Early-Week Storms, Flooding Eye S. Plains, Lower Miss. Valley | WeatherBug
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Early-Week Storms, Flooding Eye S. Plains, Lower Miss. Valley

May 25, 2022
UPDATED By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Fred Allen
The southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley will be peppered by dangerous weather tonight as a strong cold front races toward the Gulf Coast. In addition to damaging wind gusts and large hail, heavy rainfall will lead to an increased flooding risk.

An active weather pattern will persist for another day as a cold front takes aim across the Southern Plains. A mix of individual cells and clusters of thunderstorms will expand into a sprawling squall line tonight. This line of storms will shift across eastern Texas late tonight before pushing into southwestern Arkansas and Louisiana by Wednesday morning.

An Enhanced Risk, a three out of five on the severe storm probability scale, has been issued by the Storm Prediction Center for much of northern Texas including Dallas, Fort Worth, Lufkin, Waco, San Angelo, and Abilene. A Slight Risk for severe thunderstorms extends from eastern New Mexico to western Arkansas and Louisiana tonight where storms containing damaging wind gusts exceeding 60 mph, large hail and even a few short-lived tornadoes will be possible.

Cities such as Roswell, N.M., Fort Sill, Okla., Shreveport, La., and Lubbock, Midland, San Antonio, Houston, and Austin, Texas, will need to be prepared for strong storms and heavy rain. 

Other cities as far east as New Orleans, Alexandria, La., and Biloxi, Miss., and as far south as Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas, could also have a dangerous storm encounter overnight into early Wednesday.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch continues across southwestern and east-central Texas, including San Antonio, Austin, Del Rio and Bryan, Texas.

Meanwhile, the repetitive nature and intensity of the thunderstorms will dump heavy rainfall from Kansas to Texas and as far east as Arkansas and Louisiana. Here, widespread rain amounts of 1 to 3 inches, with locally higher amounts exceeding 6 inches are possible. This may lead to urban flooding and flash flooding, especially where runoff overwhelms storm drains, or where rivers, streams and bayous rise above bank level. Remember, if you approach a flooded roadway, it is best to “Turn Around, Don’t Drown.”

Flood Watches cover eastern and central Oklahoma and parts of the Ark-La-Tex region. Cities such as Shreveport, La., El Dorado, Ark., Oklahoma City and Lufkin and Tyler, Texas, are all included

Be sure to know the difference between a watch and a warning, should any be issued. A watch means that all the ingredients for severe weather to take place are there, while a warning indicates that the severe weather has already formed, and you should take action to keep your friends and family safe. Have multiple ways to receive warnings for your location and be sure to shelter in a basement or interior room within a well-built structure when severe weather approaches.