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Heavy Rains, Flash Flooding Possible Across West Texas Through Friday

weather1-2
(National Weather Service)

West Texas is in store for a round of thunderstorms Tuesday night through Wednesday, and possibly through the end of this week.

Eric Ahasic with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Midland says the storms could bring heavy rains and flash flooding to some areas.

"What's driving all this is an upper-level storm system that's basically going to sit itself around El Paso and not really move much for the next couple days," he says. "As long that's there, it's going to be drawing up moisture and giving us a chance for heavy rain and flooding through Friday at least, maybe into the weekend as well."

Ahasic says it’s hard to tell exactly where the heaviest rains will be, but that some areas could see up to three or four inches.

There’s a Flash Flood watch already in effect through Thursday for pretty much all of West Texas, from the border to the Permian Basin.

West Texas isn't likely to see the same level of disastrous flooding that's hit South Carolina in recent days - where record rains were measured in feet rather than inches - but heavy rains in the region could still be dangerous.

The NWS is advising drivers to avoid any water-covered roads during the storms, even if the water doesn't look that deep.

"You just don't know how deep that water is," Ahasic says. "It could be only an inch or two deep, or it could be a foot deep, and it only takes about a foot or two of water running across the road to wash your car or truck away."

The weather service's Climate Prediction Center is expecting this fall to be wetter and colder than usual across West Texas.

Travis Bubenik is All Things Considered Host and Big Bend Reporter at Marfa Public Radio.