Wednesday forecast for Austin: Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers and scattered rain with a high in the low 70s. At night, expect continued cloudiness and a 20 percent chance of rain with low temperatures in the mid-60s, the National Weather Service says.
Thanksgiving Day in Austin will be cloudy with a 70 percent chance of scattered showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms, but mostly producing light to moderate rainfall. High temperatures in the area will be in the mid-70s with southeast winds of 10 to 15 mph.
On Thursday night, showers are still likely with a 60 percent chance of rain and possibly a thunderstorm producing heavy rainfall as conditions become favorable for training storms, which refers to when a series of storms produce heavy rainfall over the same area in a way that resembles how a train travels on a track, repeatedly passing over the same location.
National Weather Service
Heavy rain, possible flooding on Thanksgiving weekend
The worst weather is expected to arrive Friday as a cold front blows through the Austin metro area. The cold front moving through Texas will tap into a source of moisture from Hurricane Sandra, as that storm system tracks across western Mexico. As a result, heavy rainfall is expected over the Thanksgiving Day weekend, the weather service says.
By late Thursday night, a series of thunderstorms, like train cars rolling across a single track, will produce heavy rain, possibly 2 to 4 inches in an hour, in a few isolated areas in Central Texas. The cold front arriving in the Austin metro area on Friday will extend the potential for widespread heavy rain and create conditions favorable for continued rains into Sunday afternoon, the weather service says.
“Whenever you start to talk about heavy rainfall, you want to be prepared for flooding,” weather service meteorologist Mark Lenz told the American-Statesman on Tuesday. The soil is not saturated, he said, but “flash flooding is definitely a possibility.”
Total rainfall amounts throughout Central Texas from Thursday to Sunday are expected to average 1 to 3 inches with a few areas possibly receiving more than 6 inches. Holiday travelers beware: The likely areas for the heaviest rainfall this weekend will be across the Hill Country and the Austin metro area, the weather service says.
