SUMMARY...Training and repeating of thunderstorms will continue a
flash flood threat from southeastern TX into western LA through
05Z. Rainfall rates of 1-2 in/hr and localized totals of 2-4
inches can be expected.
DISCUSSION...Regional radar imagery at 2330Z across the South
showed a line of thunderstorms extending from northwestern LA into
the Piney Woods of southeastern TX with a second line extending
from Jasper/Newton counties to roughly Matagorda Bay. These storms
were occurring just ahead of a pre-frontal trough/wind shift
located east of a cold front moving through east-central TX. SPC
mesoanalysis data from 23Z showed PWATs of 1.4 to 1.7 inches
coincident with the thunderstorm axis and MLCAPE of 500-2000 J/kg
from the central TX/LA border to the mid TX coast. Favorable shear
profiles ahead of a potent mid-level vorticity max (over north TX)
have supported supercells with enhanced rainfall rates while mean
steering flow from the southwest has resulted in areas of training
and/or repeating rounds of heavy rain from the northern TX/LA
border into the southeastern TX Coastal Plain.
Over the next 3-5 hours, the best upper level support (PVA, upper diffluence/divergence) will shift eastward from the Arklatex into
northern LA/southern AR. However, RAP forecasts of instability
show only a small pocket of 500-1000 MUCAPE just ahead of the
mid-level low center which should be steadily tracking east
through the first half of tonight. Due to lower instability
profiles, a lower end flash flood threat will exist for these
northern locations where strong forcing will should be balanced by
a fairly progressive translation of heavy rain toward the east and
limited instability.
Farther south, a lack of height falls for the Gulf Coast region
should result in a slower eastward progression of heavy rain. It
is here where greater instability is forecast to reside within the
warm sector (500-1500 J/kg MLCAPE). 850 mb winds of 40-60 kt from
the southwest and similarly oriented mean steering flow will allow
for areas of training and repeating thunderstorms capable of 1-2
in/hr (perhaps locally above 2 in/hr) due to a slower eastward
progression to the axis of thunderstorms. 2-4 inches of rain over
a roughly 2 hour window is expected to result in a couple of areas
of flash flooding through 05Z from southeastern TX into western LA.