Valley could receive beneficial rain
By LAURA B. MARTINEZ
Staff Writer
A tropical disturbance hanging around the Bay of Campeche will likely bring heavy rain to parts of the Rio Grande Valley over the next two days.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service in Brownsville report some areas could receive more than 3 inches of rain in slow moving or stronger storm cells.
There’s a 60 percent chance that over the next 48 hours the system could form into a tropical depression before moving inland.
There’s a 60 percent chance of heavy rain for today and Tuesday night in the lower Valley. There’s a 60 percent of heavy rain for Wednesday and Wednesday night.
For the mid to upper Valley, there’s a 50 percent chance of rain on Tuesday and a 40 percent chance of rain on Wednesday.
On Monday, the NWS reported an area of low pressure near the southern Bay of Campeche was producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms. This weather system is expected to bring heavy rainfall to the lower Valley – along and east of US 77/IH69, including Brownsville, Harlingen and Raymondville – with the majority of the rainfall occurring Tuesday and possibly Wednesday.
According to Barry Goldsmith, warning coordination meteorologist for the NWS, “confidence is fairly high that the mid and upper Valley ranchlands will be largely rain-free most, if not all, of Wednesday.”
Goldsmith said timing favors pre-dawn to early afternoon near the coast, and late morning through the mid-afternoon for the McAllen, Edinburg area.
Locally, 2 to 3 inches of rain may cause 1 to 2 feet of water depth in poor drainage areas along and east of US 77/I69E.
Rip currents could become more intense on Tuesday and swells could produce tidal run-up towards the dunes beginning Tuesday night and peaking Wednesday morning.
Boating and fishing for small craft will become difficult Tuesday afternoon, and continue through at least Wednesday.
Poor to average swimmers may want to stay in shallow water or out of the surf from late Tuesday through Wednesday.
