Santa Ana winds to kick up this week

AccuWeather

The week before Christmas could be rainy in California, marking the arrival of the long-awaited wet season.

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 Lots of brown here on the map.

00:07 I don't remember the last time we weren't talking

00:09 about drought in the South Central States.

00:12 Now really, Texas has been an epicenter,

00:14 but Louisiana has been quite bad as well.

00:17 You can see the widespread area of charcoal

00:19 as you're getting across the Gulf Coast.

00:20 That's where we have exceptional levels of drought

00:23 right now, highest level of drought that there is.

00:25 But looking to the West here,

00:27 I don't want to ignore New Mexico,

00:29 where you can see the two bullseyes here

00:31 in the Southwest and Southeastern corners of the state.

00:34 We also have exceptional drought in New Mexico.

00:37 And just a reminder,

00:38 New Mexico last year was the epicenter of our fire season.

00:42 It was a horrible year for fires in New Mexico.

00:45 Now fire season this year has been more tame,

00:47 but boy, we could really use some rain

00:49 to help out with the drought conditions.

00:51 We are gonna get some rain,

00:52 but also a little winter weather

00:54 with the storm brewing right now

00:55 across the Southern Plains.

00:56 You can see the snow moving

00:58 through the mountains of New Mexico.

00:59 Hey, skiers, snowboarders,

01:00 you're gonna love this more in just a minute,

01:03 but let's talk about the rain first.

01:05 Oklahoma City back down toward Amarillo,

01:07 Lubbock, you're gonna want the umbrella

01:08 and the AccuWeather app as you move through your Wednesday

01:10 and even Thursday as well.

01:12 Here's the big snapshot of our storm,

01:14 and you can see the green extending all the way down

01:16 to the Rio Grande Valley.

01:18 Heaviest of rain though,

01:19 back toward the center of this slow mover

01:21 into the Panhandle of Texas

01:23 and even the Panhandle of Oklahoma.

01:25 On the backside of the storm,

01:26 that's where we get enough cold air from the North

01:28 to really bring in that taste of winter.

01:30 Let's talk more about the rainfall.

01:32 I am concerned for flash flooding,

01:33 especially into North Texas,

01:35 and again, the Panhandle of Oklahoma.

01:37 Look at this bullseye right here.

01:39 You ready?

01:40 I'm gonna play out future rainfall,

01:41 and the clock's just gonna keep ticking,

01:43 and it's like we're just filling in the lines here,

01:44 just coloring in the lines between I-40 and I-20,

01:48 and then again, back toward,

01:49 let's say, Guymon, Oklahoma, for example.

01:51 That heavy rain falling all in one place,

01:53 especially in a drought-stricken area,

01:56 that's what leads to flash flooding so easily.

01:58 So if you live in Guymon or even, let's say, Amarillo,

02:00 please be careful today and tonight,

02:02 even into tomorrow morning.

02:04 Now let's talk about our taste of winter.

02:05 You can see the snowfall into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains

02:08 and even into the Rockies as well, Southern Colorado.

02:11 Highest amounts in that foot to foot and a half range.

02:14 I told you, skiers, snowboarders,

02:15 if you're heading to Taos or Angel Fire,

02:17 oh, you're gonna have a great time

02:19 with all this fresh powder,

02:20 but I will say it is gonna be rough travel

02:22 along I-25 and I-40 through Thursday night.

02:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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