After many weeks of dry, hot weather, the Rio Grande Valley is expected to get some beneficial rain beginning on Friday and continuing through the weekend.
The rain could not come at a better time as many cities in the Valley have implemented water contingency plans and restrictions due to the lack of rain and the decreasing levels in the reservoirs that provide water to the area.
The rain chances begin on Friday when there’s a 50% chance of thunderstorms and a 30% chance of thunderstorms Friday night, according to the National Weather Service in Brownsville/Rio Grande Valley.
The chances increase to 60% Saturday and 40% Saturday night, and on Sunday there’s a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Because of the lack of rain, many residential lawns have a mixture of green and brown grass in them, and a lake between Highway 100 and Rancho Viejo in Cameron County continued to lack sufficient water in it Thursday, leaving waterfowl standing or swimming in what water that is available.
Crops in the field are dry and withered due to the lack of rain. Cotton farmers were seen Thursday trying to salvage what was left in their fields before the rains are to begin.
Moisture moving into the Valley this weekend and over the area and an upper-level disturbance moving in from the northwest Gulf of Mexico will bring “beneficial rainfall” to the Valley, said Laura Farris, a meteorologist for NWS.
“Saturday does look like it has more potential for heavier rain that could lead to localized flooding in poor drainage areas and low-lying streets,” Farris said.
Farris said it’s a little tricky to pinpoint just where the rain will fall and how much will fall but said there is a lot of potential for heavy rain. “Saturday looks like the most active day but even tomorrow (Friday) we could start to see it picking up in activity, especially come the afternoon with daytime heating and sea breeze showers.”
There’s a marginal risk of excessive rainfall Friday right along the coast from Cameron to Willacy counties and on Saturday, most of the Valley is included in the marginal risk for excessive rainfall, Farris said. “We are really expecting mostly beneficial rain with just a slight chance of some isolated flooding.”
Rainfall amounts of a ¼ of an inch up to a 1/2 inch could occur Friday. Those amounts increase to ¼ of an inch on Saturday with higher amounts possible with slower moving storms, she said.
Farris said although the storms could bring thunder and lightning, severe thunderstorms are not anticipated. “This will be kind of the typical hazards of thunderstorms you see down here,’’ she said.
Water levels in the Falcon and Amistad reservoirs are at 25% or below and although the rains coming this weekend will not fill them up, it will help to bring the Valley back from its current drought conditions.
Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties are experiencing moderate drought conditions, while Starr County is experiencing between moderate to severe drought conditions.
“This will help knock us back a little bit, maybe a couple of categories for some areas, so that will help with the wildfire threat,” she said.
Barry Goldsmith, warning coordination meteorologist for the NWS, said the rains that reach the Sierra Madre may create a brief and slight uptick in levels, especially Falcon similar to early July, “but they won’t make a dent in the longer term situation.”
Motorists driving on the roadways this weekend should be prepared for heavy rainfall that could occur Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
“During that time the biggest threat will probably be heavy rainfall reducing visibilities and making roads slick,” she said, adding motorists should look out for low lying roads where standing water could accumulate and lead to flooding.
