Texas Braces for Severe Weather This Weekend

Heavy rains from Hurricane Patricia are expected to hit Texas this weekend.

By Rhonda FanningOctober 23, 2015 10:33 am

Weather stations all over Texas are tracking heavy rains swirling in from the Gulf of Mexico this weekend.  Hurricane Patricia, off the pacific coast of Mexico right now, has now been certified the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the western hemisphere.

A hurricane warning now extends from San Blas to Punta San Telmo, which means landfall is expected along that line in Mexico’s mainland within 24 hours. A larger area, from east of Punta San Telmo to Lazaro Cardenas, is under a hurricane watch, and the biggest concern is flash flooding and mudslides.

From the border, and on northward, the National Weather Service is forecasting 1 to 3 inches of rain will along the Rio Grande river. Along the coastal bend, where there’s a lot more moisture in the air, they’re predicting 5 to 7 inches.

This weekend’s weather is not expected to be anywhere as severe as what happened back on Memorial Day weekend. But this weekend’s weather is seen as potentially severe and much of south Texas is under a flood warning through Sunday.

The Standard got updates from Eric Aasen at KERA in North Texas, Mark Wilson of San Antonio Express News and Nick Hampshire, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service of Texas.

Listen to the full story in the audio player above.