More than 2 million people are under flood alerts from New Mexico to Texas as repeated rounds of rain shift from the Southwest into the Plains for the weekend, Fox Weather reported on Saturday, October 24. Storms are expected to move slowly into the Plains on Saturday night into Sunday, bringing rain to Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma through Monday.
Source: Fox Weather
Through Tuesday, widespread rain totals of 2 to 3 inches are forecast across northeast New Mexico, western Texas and Oklahoma, southeast Colorado and western Kansas, the FOX Forecast Center said, with localized totals of 3 to 5 inches or more possible in some places.
The National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center has also warned of a heavy rain threat across the Southwest and into the Plains through the weekend, with a Level 2 out of 4 — slight — risk of excessive rainfall and flash flooding, according to reporting summarising the NWS outlook on October 24.
Source: TheWeather.com / National Weather Service
Where the risk is highest
On Saturday, a Level 2 out of 4 flash flood threat stretches from the northern tip of the Texas Panhandle into east-central New Mexico and up into eastern Colorado, Fox Weather said, with a wider Level 1 threat across the Four Corners and into Kansas. On Sunday, the Level 2 threat pushes further east into Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
Forecasters say the ground is already saturated after inches of rain and flash flooding in the Southwest and Four Corners earlier this week, which means additional rain is more likely to run off and cause flash flooding rather than soak in.
Severe storms are also possible on Saturday in southeast New Mexico and far western Texas, where damaging winds and large hail are the main concerns under a Level 2 out of 5 severe storm threat, the FOX Forecast Center said.
Drivers — including truckers on Panhandle and western Texas highways — are urged not to drive through flooded roads or low-water crossings. Floodwater can hide washed-out pavement, and the National Weather Service warns that low-water crossings become dangerous quickly during flooding.