An area of low pressure and corresponding cold front will push through South Central Texas Monday night/Tuesday morning and will spark one of the best chances for rain that we’ve seen so far this year.
Here’s a breakdown of what we’ll be monitoring with this next system:
THE SETUP
- An area of low-pressure will push into the Lone Star State Monday night, with rain chances increase locally Tuesday morning.
TIMING
- Showers are expected to develop in our western counties around 9 p.m. - 11 p.m. Monday night.
- Rain coverage is then expected to increase and expand farther eastward through the overnight hours on Monday and into at least the first half of the day on Tuesday.
- Expect a soggy start in spots on Tuesday, so plan on giving yourself some extra time for the morning drive and take the rain gear with you!
- The rain and storm activity should push east into the afternoon hours, with clearing skies expected from west to east through the remainder of the day. It’ll be pretty windy, too, with gusts upwards of 35 mph+ possible.
RAIN TOTALS
By the time all is said and done, here’s what we could find in terms of totals in area rain gauges:
- Western Counties (& those closest to the Rio Grande): Up to 0.25″ - 0.50″
- Central Counties (around San Antonio): 0.50″ - 1.00″+ (localized higher)
- Eastern Counties: 1.00″ - 2.00″+ (localized higher)
Any rain is certainly welcomed at this point, especially given the lack of rainfall in 2022 (which rang in as the 2nd driest year on record in San Antonio!) and so far in 2023.
In fact, as of Sunday evening, San Antonio has only officially recorded 0.01″ of rain this month. The average for the entire month of January is 1.96″, so we’re already a bit behind in the rainfall department this year.
Whatever we do find in terms of rainfall totals is certainly welcomed, but for most of us, it won’t be enough to completely alleviate our current drought conditions. According to NOAA, we need 9″ - 12″ of rainfall in Bexar County to get rid of the drought.
Here’s the latest drought monitor that was released last Thursday (1/19) for reference:
ANY SEVERE WEATHER?
- In short: Severe weather is not overly expected in our area at the moment, but we’ll keep eyes on a few storms that could try to pop up, especially in our far eastern counties.
In the Storm Prediction Center’s latest update, the better chance for a strong-to-severe storm looks to be just east of our area.
WEATHER ON-THE-GO
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