Sunday and Monday were just a respite, and today rain is moving back into our forecast big time, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Forecaster Penny Harness with the National Weather Service in Corpus Christi says a frontal boundary moving into the Great Plains from the northwest will bring cooler weather, and that will collide with the remnants of Pacific Hurricane Willa, which will begin to move over the area tonight.
"It will start in West Texas, the Big Bend area, and along the Rio Grande, and we do expect the moisture to stream up into parts of Central Texas."
In fact, the NWS says the San Antonio area could get up to 3 inches from this new system, and also as much as three inches will fall on the already saturated upper Hill Country, with flooding expected in the Llano and Colorado River Basins, which were the scene of deadly flooding last week.
"That will likely increase flooding issues over portions of the area," she said.
FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE:
There have been no major changes to the forecast since the last briefing with minor updates made to the timing for rain. Moderate rainfall tonight and Wednesday could lead to new or continued river flooding as well as localized flash flooding concerns.
Area of Concern:
All of South Central Texas, but the Colorado, Llano, Nueces, Frio, Guadalupe, and Rio Grande river basins are those most at risk from additional rainfall.
Threats & Impacts:
Rainfall: 1 to 3 inches of rainfall are possible across South Central Texas through early Thursday morning. Some isolated totals up to 4 inches are possible.
Timing and Overview:
Periods of light rain are expected through the day today with a break in the rainfall possible this afternoon. As an upper level disturbance and the remnants of Pacific Hurricane Willa move towards Texas from the west tonight, another round of rain is expected to spread into South Central Texas after midnight and reach the I-35 corridor by sunrise Wednesday. Moderate rainfall is expected throughout the day Wednesday as these systems move east across Texas, with rain chances ending from west to east Wednesday night. A window for brief heavy rain may exist Wednesday afternoon and evening across the coastal plains if thunderstorms are able to develop.
New and continued river flooding will be the primary hazard, as well as some localized flash flooding concerns. With how saturated the ground is from the last 10+ days of rainfall, most of the rain that falls will turn into runoff and go directly into area streams, rivers, and lakes. Rivers in the areas that have seen the most rain (Hill Country, Edwards Plateau, and Rio Grande Plains) will be at the greatest risk as many are still in flood or at least at bankfull/action stage. The upper trough exits Texas late Wednesday night into Thursday, pushing rain east of the region. A dry forecast is expected through the weekend and into next week.