Fire risk remains high in Texas as severe storm threat returns to the Gulf Coast

AccuWeather

Dry, windy conditions are expected to persist across drought-stricken parts of Texas this weekend, but for parts of the Midwest and Southeast, storms are likely to return.

Transcript

00:00It's been bone dry there.

00:01We definitely all the rainfall to help out,

00:03especially across West TX where they're

00:05still experiencing an exceptional drought.

00:06That's the once in a decade type of drought.

00:09And you look at the rainfall that

00:11we've had since February 1st.

00:13Comparing that to historical averages,

00:14Midland hasn't had a drop of

00:16rainfall since February 1st and

00:18Brownsville, Albuquerque, El Paso,

00:19San Antonio, same thing.

00:20No rainfall for the most part here

00:22over the past almost seven weeks.

00:26That's a long time,

00:27especially as we head into the wet

00:29and dry springtime, right?

00:30But this dry pattern is going to

00:32continue here as we had throughout

00:33the day on Saturday, even as we had

00:35in a Sunday not really looking

00:37like a good chance of rainfall.

00:38Wind gusts right now are still

00:40clocking in in that 20 to 30 mph

00:42range, especially here from West

00:43TX towards the I-35 corridor.

00:45That is where we're going to see

00:46the highest potential of fire

00:48danger here as we head into tonight.

00:50It's been dry, it's been windy,

00:51and you get that combination

00:53of those two things.

00:54This is the result right there,

00:55especially across West TX from

00:56Wichita Falls down through Abilene,

00:58down through San Angelo.

00:59That's where we're going to see the

01:01highest potential for fire danger

01:02here as we head into tonight.

01:04As we head into tomorrow,

01:05mild weather across the forecast

01:07here for I-35 from Wichita,

01:08down through Oklahoma City,

01:09Dallas, even down through Austin.

01:11But enjoy it,

01:11because wait till you see what

01:13I have in store for Sunday.

01:15Fire risk here on Saturday

01:16afternoon will include Western

01:18Oklahoma, pretty much all of West

01:19TX and pretty much all of Eastern

01:21New Mexico, but the highest potential

01:23for fire danger here on Saturday

01:25is going to include Big Spring,

01:27Midland, Odessa,

01:28all the way down the I-20 and

01:30I-10 corridor towards El Paso.

01:31That's where we're watching out for

01:33the highest potential fire danger.

01:35And then as we head into Saturday night,

01:37the next chance of severe weather

01:39will be in the forecast here along

01:41the I-70 corridor from pretty much

01:42Lawrence, Kansas all the way to

01:44Saint Louis and then from far

01:46northeastern Oklahoma along I-44

01:47from Miami all the way up into Saint Louis.

01:49So that's what we're going to be

01:51tracking for the severe weather

01:53threat late Saturday.

01:53And then as we head into Sunday

01:55afternoon, another threat of

01:56severe weather here stretching

01:58from the I-70 corridor,

01:59pretty much Indianapolis all

02:00the way to Dallas and Austin.

02:01That's where we're going to see

02:03that chance of severe weather here

02:04and the highest potential of severe

02:06weather as we had throughout Sunday

02:08afternoon and as we head into

02:09parts of Sunday evening.

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