After briefly sunny skies, an active storm pattern is expected to continue through parts of North Texas Tuesday afternoon until Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.
Residents can expect thunderstorms scattered across the region, according to NWS meteorologist Miles Langfeld. While there are currently no active flash flood warnings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, forecasters say they expect additional rainfall through Thursday — possibly into Friday.
“Any of these thunderstorms will be capable of producing some heavy rainfall and possible flash flooding," Langfeld said. “Any of these storms will be able to cause some minor flooding issues.”
Flash flooding is common in North Texas. Risks are higher early in the warm season due to prolonged dry periods hardening the ground. This reduces its ability to absorb sudden heavy rainfall. Instead of soaking into soil, water runs off into the surrounding low-lying areas.
Langfeld said urban areas like Tarrant County are especially vulnerable.
"We've got lots of concrete here in Tarrant County, so that much rain can cause some issues," Langfeld said.
The weather service issued a flash flood warning earlier this week for Tarrant, Henderson, Smith and Navarro counties after 2-to-4 inches of rain fell over the area. That warning has since lifted.
But the most dangerous aspect of these widespread storm patterns is pinpointing exactly where these storms will occur, Langfield said. Higher storm chances moved south toward Waco, but he said you can expect to see scattered showers and thunderstorms across North Texas.
"Thunderstorms and these kind of patterns can really go up anywhere," Langfeld said. "It doesn't take too much to get them started when we've got this moist air mass. So it's kind of just all of North Texas will be watching for some isolated to scattered thunderstorm activity each day."
A possible silver lining: cooler temperatures. Langfeld says temperature highs will settle in the 80s for the next few days after weeks of high-90s. That's due to the cloud cover and rain chances, Langfeld said.
Chances of rain are expected to begin falling Thursday, and summer temperatures will return in time for the weekend.
Alexsis Jones is a reporter and producer for KERA News. Got a tip? Email Alexsis at ajones@kera.org.
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