It said the risk of flood damage was “significant”, warning residents not to drive on flooded roads and to move to higher ground immediately. A flash flood warning has also been issued for Fort Worth and Canton, Tex.
In some isolated cases, the rainfall will qualify as a 1 in 1,000 interval flood. The rains represent the latest in floods similar to those that have occurred across the United States over the past few weeks. In one week alone, three 1,000-year rainfall events occurred — inundating St. Louis, eastern Kentucky, and southeastern Illinois. Although controversial, the term is used to describe a precipitation event expected to occur once every 1,000 years, meaning it has a 0.1 percent chance in any given year.
Jeff Lindner, meteorologist for Harris County, Tex., mentioned on Twitter A weather gauge recorded nearly 40 percent of its usual annual rainfall in just 12 hours.
That morning, the same amount of rain fell, 12.6 inches, in less than 12 hours.
Water levels on the Trinity River in Dallas are expected to reach minor flood stage Monday through Tuesday.
Such precipitation rates make it nearly impossible for soils—not to mention impervious pavement surfaces—to absorb without runoff that can cause flash flooding.
After the floodwaters leave the Dallas area, expect to continue monitoring Interstate 20 toward areas like Shreveport, La. The National Weather Service’s Weather Forecast Center has issued a risk of moderate rain for Northeast Texas and Northwest Louisiana. , 3 to 5 inches of rain is expected in the area and 2 to 3 inches per hour is possible.
More rain is expected Tuesday, with a moderate risk of heavy rain spreading across northern Louisiana into parts of Alabama.
Before Monday’s heavy rain, the Dallas-Fort Worth area was in the midst of a significant drought. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, Dallas County has experienced at least the most severe drought for the past three months.
At one point, Dallas had several days above 100 degrees and 67 consecutive days without rain, which finally broke on August 9. Now, in a shocking twist, it looks like this August will be Dallas’ wettest. Since 1899, the Weather Channel’s Jim Candor noted on Twitter.
Extremely dry land, coupled with a rapid rate of rainfall, triggered widespread flooding. Drought hardens topsoil, making it harder to absorb more rainfall.
Cities across Texas experienced record high temperatures And last month the drought caused a severe rainfall deficit. But the NWS warned that heavy rains that fell in parts of the state through Monday will not bring enough relief.
An overlap of heavy precipitation, extreme moisture, and a strong stirring mechanism is developing across Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.
Over the weekend, a subtropical system moved ashore in northern Tamaulipas, Mexico with relatively little fanfare. Its direct impacts were minimal, but it carried deep tropical moisture-rich air ashore. PWATs, or precipitable water indices — a measure of how much moisture is in the air column from the bottom to the top of the atmosphere — approach a significant three inches.
That wind turns into thunderstorms to the north and heavy rain in the stable front. The front is wrapped from west to east near Oklahoma’s Red River toward the Arkansas-Louisiana border. A low pressure wave will develop in the front and spread eastward to increase the rainfall. Some locations will also see low-end hurricane risk.
While the Dallas area was flooded, parts of north-central and northeast Texas were under a flood watch – a warning level. Below is the flood warning – Central Time through noon Monday, including Dallas, Rockwall and Delta counties. The NWS warned of “totals of 2 to 5 inches, with isolated amounts exceeding 8 inches.”
Local news outlets and reporters shared videos of water rescue efforts on a flooded highway in the Dallas area. People swam in the turbulent flood, theirs Vehicles were abandoned on roadsides with alarms sounding.
The flood waters have receded in all the depths. Cars, SUVs and a police cruiser were flooded. Alarm bells are still ringing for many. A woman had almost chest-high water over her and had to swim to safety. I will update from live #Dallas Starts at 7am ET / 6am CT @accuweather 📺 pic.twitter.com/qwVKWJgXyp
— Bill Wadell (@BillWadell) August 22, 2022
Matthew Kapucci contributed to this report.
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