SOGGY WEEK AHEAD: Could next week’s rain be a drought buster?

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Another arctic front blew through the Brazos Valley overnight, and we will spend the rest of the weekend trying to recover some gulf moisture to set up next week’s rain chance. From now until then, pack the chapstick and hand lotion!

Drought Update

Multiple disturbances move over the Brazos Valley next week, starting Sunday night into Monday. While this is likely to be the heaviest, most widespread round, a few more rounds are likely before next Friday.

Not much has changed in this week’s Drought Monitor, but we’re putting this here as a place holder for what we think will be a LOT of change by this time next week. Note on the right side of the graphic above: Above 3-6″ is needed to get us out of the “Moderate” drought category back to “normal”. If trends continue, we will at least get the lower end of that figure before the end of next week.

Multiple pacific systems come our way next week, the first of which arrives in the state of Texas Sunday night into Monday. Showers and a couple storms are expected west of the Brazos Valley before sunset, but our coverage is expected to increase from west to east overnight into Monday morning. Multiple rounds of showers and storms may drop multiple inches before Monday is over.

Flooding Potential

Multiple disturbances move over the Brazos Valley next week, starting Sunday night into Monday. While this is likely to be the heaviest, most widespread round, a few more rounds are likely before next Friday.

Soils are far from saturated at the moment, so flooding is not an overwhelmingly large concern, but that flooding potential will be re-evaluated as we go through the week, especially after what looks to be a soggy Monday.

What To Expect Next Week

In short: Rain, but not at every moment. Heaviest, most widespread activity looks to come through the first half of the day Monday, with another widespread round Wednesday and potentially again toward the end of the week. It won’t be raining all through the week, but those of us who stack totals of more than 3″ will need to watch for each successive round leading to at least some minor flooding.

Multiple disturbances move over the Brazos Valley next week, starting Sunday night into Monday. While this is likely to be the heaviest, most widespread round, a few more rounds are likely before next Friday.

The timing and overall totals will be fine-tuned as we go through the weekend, so check back for updates.