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Thursday forecast for Austin: Happy Thanksgiving! Get ready to spend lots of time with loved ones stuck indoors as moderate to heavy rain is expected to start late Thursday and continue through Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
With a storm-generating cold front moving into the Austin metro area Friday, the region could be under a flash flood watch as early as Thursday night, if rains persist and increase.
Beginning Thursday and ending Sunday, the latest weather service forecast calls for an average of 1 to 2 inches of rainfall across the region, with isolated pockets seeing up to 4 inches.
“The heaviest rain will fall at the leading edge of that front,” weather service meteorologist Larry Hopper told the American-Statesman on Wednesday.
If you remember your sixth-grade science, the front heralds the arrival of a mass of cold air that — being heavier and denser than the Gulf moisture that’s been making Central Texas so warm and humid the past few days — creates a wedge that pushes the warm air up into the atmosphere, where the moisture quickly condenses into clouds and, ultimately, rain.
Hurricane Sandra, churning off the Pacific coast of Mexico as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 145 mph, remains a deep source of moisture that’s also being drawn into Texas by the cold front, the weather service says.
Just as Black Friday shoppers are trying to make their way home from the outlet malls in the late afternoon and evening, the cold front will be moving slowly through Central Texas — so slowly that the associated storms could pose a flash flooding threat and cause travel disruptions, particularly in the Hill Country and the Austin metro area, until Saturday morning, the weather service said.
Other effects of the cold front include gusty winds of 15 to 25 mph and a dramatic change in temperatures beginning late Friday. The temperature on Friday may rise to near 76 by noon, then falling to around 59 during the remainder of the day, forecasters say. Wind chill index values could fall to near freezing in parts of the Hill Country and areas near the Balcones Escarpment, the weather service said.
The weather service urges holiday travelers to avoid areas prone to minor flooding, such as low water crossings, and to plan for traffic delays. Those expecting to travel on Friday should prepare for rapidly falling temperatures and monitor the latest forecasts on this developing weather event.
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