A tropical disturbance forming in the Gulf of Mexico is threatening to dump more torrential rain, which may cause flash floods to rain-battered southern states like Texas and Oklahoma until Wednesday.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Houston issued a special weather statement, saying that Invest 91L spotted in the eastern part of Gulf of Mexico on Sunday will bring a significant amount of tropical moisture and rainfall to Texas.
"Through Wednesday, widespread rainfall totals could easily average 6 to 8 inches with some amounts exceeding 10 inches... This will obviously lead to a dangerous flood situation," NWS said, according to CNN.
The tropical disturbance, which the National Hurricane Centre might name "Bill," will not have much time in the Gulf to develop before moving inland since a dome of high pressure aloft over Southern US may steer it into coastal Texas by Tuesday, the Weather Channel reported.
"Even if tropical development does not occur, a surge of deep moisture will bring a dangerous flash flood threat to parts of east and north Texas, as well as Louisiana beginning late Tuesday," the Weather Channel reported.
"Generally, widespread 3 to 5 inch rain totals can be expected, with locally higher amounts likely where rain bands remain stationary or train over the same areas. Rain rates of 2-4 inches per hour, at times, are possible," it added.
Meanwhile, local officials expressed alarm that the event could be catastrophic with the possibility of high winds and tornadoes.
"While high winds and even tornadoes are possible, already wet grounds mean that even a moderate amount of rain will likely cause street flooding," Harris County Emergency Management warned, according to CNN.
"Bayous and rivers could go out of banks quickly creating a serious threat to life and property," it noted.
The tropical disturbance will also cause heavy precipitation plume in Missouri and Illinois, east into New Jersey and New York as the disturbance tracks north through the eastern US, the Washington Post said.
Washington, D.C., area will likely see some of the tropical moisture late this week and into the weekend, it added.
This will be the second time this year that Texas will have record rainfall and flooding. Last May, Texas had two times its average rainfall and the most in any month ever, CNN said.
Citing data from NWS, CNN said more than 37 trillion gallons of water fell on the state—enough cover every bit of the state with ankle-deep water—during the Memorial Day weekend, killing at least 23 people.
