More than 35 million people across a 1,000-mile stretch of the U.S. from Texas to the Carolinas are facing a renewed threat of flooding on Thursday, including in Houston where Flood Watches remain in effect.
HOUSTON – More than 35 million people across a 1,000-mile swath of the U.S. stretching from Texas to the Carolinas are facing a renewed threat of flooding on Thursday thanks to a stalled-out cold front and a surge of tropical moisture that has been relentlessly pounding the region with torrential rain and thunderstorms.
The bull’s-eye for flooding covers parts of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana, where two weather systems will combine to drench the region already hit hard by Hurricane Beryl, with rainfall rates of up to 3 inches or more per hour.
Slow-moving storms could slam Texas, Louisiana on Thursday
The exclusive FOX Model Futuretrack shows more rounds of torrential rain and thunderstorms pounding areas of the southern U.S. from Texas to the Carolinas over the next several days.
It’s been a mess across portions of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana recently, with the region seeing numerous rounds of precipitation that have caused flash flooding.
That threat continues on Thursday.
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(FOX Weather)
The FOX Forecast Center said torrential rain was already falling Thursday morning and will continue into the afternoon, with the highest rainfall totals expected along the middle and upper Texas coasts, generally between Matagorda and Galveston bays.
That’s where rainfall totals of up to 3-5 inches could fall by the end of the week.
While the area was spared the worst of the impacts on Wednesday, forecasters are concerned about the conditions in the atmosphere on Thursday.
The FOX Forecast Center said the likelihood of training storms – those that repeatedly move over the same area – capable of up to 3 inches of rain or more per hour is high enough in the region that numerous reports of flash flooding are likely.
(FOX Weather)
NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center (WPC) has placed nearly 2 million people along the Texas and Louisiana coasts in a Level 3 out of 4 risk of flooding on Thursday.
That includes communities from the Corpus Christi area northward through Galveston and into the Lake Charles area in Louisiana.
(FOX Weather)
Flood Watches and Flood Warnings have been issued across southeastern Texas, including the Houston metro, and will remain in effect through at least the rest of Thursday.
Other cities under the Flood Watch include Rockport, Bay City and Port Arthur in Texas.
Mid-Atlantic also faces flood risk Thursday
(FOX Weather)
Heavy rain and flooding are also possible across the mid-Atlantic, with portions of the Carolinas expected to pick up several inches of rain through the end of the week.
Areas along the coast look likely to pick up 3-5 inches of rain, with some locally higher amounts.
Farther inland, rainfall totals of 1-2 inches are expected.
(FOX Weather)
Flood Watches have also been posted in the mid-Atlantic, including most of eastern North Carolina and South Carolina.
This includes Raleigh and Wilmington in North Carolina and Columbia, Myrtle Beach and Charleston in South Carolina.