Severe Weather, Floods, Heavy Rainfall Roll In for Oklahoma, Texas After Weeks of Drought and 100-Degree Temps

In Texas and much of Oklahoma, it has been a summer of extreme 100-degree heat and protracted drought, but this week's forecast indicates that a much-needed weather pattern deviation is on the way. Although rain is predicted for parts of the region, AccuWeather meteorologists warn that severe weather and heavy rainfall are likely to trigger floods in some areas.

Bernie Rayno, the Chief On-Air Meteorologist for Accuweather, said that For the foreseeable future, Wednesday marked Dallas' final day with a temperature of 100 degrees. There is a slight possibility that temperatures will struggle to reach 100 once more for the remainder of the year. At most levels of the atmosphere, a strong bubble of high pressure has prevented rain.

This may particularly be the case, according to forecasters, if the metro area as well as numerous other northern locations and possibly some areas of central Texas experience torrential rain in the coming days.

Dallas - 47; Oklahoma - 18

This summer, Dallas has experienced 47 days with temperature highs of 100 or higher. The annual Heat Wave Index from the American Meteorological Society indicates that this past July alone saw 27 days with temperatures above 100 degrees, which is the second-highest total in the US.

Oklahoma City will experience significant cooling this week, similar to Dallas. Even though Oklahoma City experienced six more days of triple-digit temperatures in August than it did in July, the state has experienced slightly more rainfall than much of Texas. With a few exceptions, most days through the following week will see highs in the 80s.

Rayno said that the heat dome that has been so prevalent this summer will dissipate as a front begins to turn southward above the southern Plains and Southeast states, which will allow the number and complexity of thunderstorms to rise.

On Wednesday night, drenching thunderstorms struck the Dallas/Fort Worth region, dropping up to 2 inches of rain. Localized flooding was brought on by the heavy rains. Up to 2 inches of rain fell on the area from thunderstorms a week earlier as well.

Most of Oklahoma and northern Texas will experience highs in the 100s or upper 90s through midweek, which will be replaced by highs in the lower 90s and, in some cases, even the 80s through the following week.

Texas Temperatures

Further south in Houston (high of 99 F on Wednesday), Austin (high of 101 F on Wednesday), and San Antonio (high of 97 F on Wednesday), as well as further west in San Angelo, Abilene, and Lubbock, Texas, the heat is also likely to subside.

Starting late this week, highs a few degrees below 90 will replace highs in the upper 90s to close to 100, and there will be a chance of thunderstorms in the Houston area. In the coming days, storms are expected to occur more frequently in Abilene, which is having its driest summer on record and has seen a temperature deviation of 5.1° above average, which started on June 1.

Oklahoma City and Texas Flash Floods

Rayno said that Most Texas droughts end in flooding, and portions of the state's northern and central regions could experience both on Friday in a very localized manner and possibly later this weekend or early next week in a more widespread manner.

Over the next five to seven days, there is a chance that a few inches to possibly a foot of rain will fall in the region extending from central and northern Texas to Oklahoma and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana. There is a good chance that some areas will experience showers and thunderstorms for several hours or even days.

The path and intensity of a tropical disturbance that is expected to enter the southwest area of the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, according to AccuWeather forecasters, could act as a wild card. Even if this system continues to be disorganized, there is a possibility that showers, as well as thunderstorms, will eventually reach southern Texas next week. As a tropical rainstorm moved in from the Gulf of Mexico, it dumped 5 to 10 inches of rain recently in South Texas as well as the Rio Grande Valley.