AUSTIN, Texas — A strong cold front will bring a severe weather risk Monday evening to Central Texas, followed by a noticeable temperature drop behind the front for Election Day.
Ahead of this severe weather risk, the KVUE Weather Team has issued a Weather Impact Alert Day for Nov. 4.
The front will arrive in the early evening, with the main severe weather window lasting from 5 p.m. Monday through 3 a.m. Tuesday. This is not a situation where we expect widespread severe weather, but we could certainly have several strong to severe storms capable of strong winds and hail.
The Storm Prediction Center includes areas along and east of Interstate 35 in the "slight" – level 2 of 5 – severe weather risk Monday evening. The remainder of the KVUE area will be in the "marginal" – level 1 of 5 – risk.
Timeline: Storms develop Monday evening
Throughout the day Monday, there will be some isolated showers and storms, but a good chunk of the daytime will be dry with no severe weather expected. Storm chances will ramp up later in the day as the cold front moves in.
The window for severe weather will open around 5 p.m. as a line of storms develops near the Highway 281 corridor. Unfortunately, some of our far western areas may miss out on the vast majority of this rain.
Once the line of storms develops, it will sweep eastward into the Austin metro area and I-35 corridor. A few of these embedded storms could be of the severe variety, with blustery winds, heavy visibility-reducing downpours and potentially large hail. We also expect these storms to produce lightning.
Before midnight, the majority of rain will be concentrated over the I-35 corridor, as the front is expected to stall and move slowly. We will need to watch for flash flooding due to the still very dry vegetation and soils across Central Texas.
Storms will push into the Coastal Plains through the late evening and early overnight hours, and rain will turn to scattered showers throughout the early hours of Tuesday.
Rain will be on its way out by Tuesday morning, and the bulk of Election Day will be dry with no storm risks. It will be much cooler on Election Day, with high temperatures in the low to mid-70s.
Beneficial rain is likely
After an incredibly dry October, we're happy to have some beneficial rain on the way. These storms will be moving eastward at a slower pace, which will give many neighborhoods a good shot at rain but will also increase flooding potential.
With that being said, we have a half-inch to 1 inch of rain in the forecast, with isolated totals of 2 to 4 inches possible. There could be some minor flooding or ponding on the roads for areas that see the strongest storms.
The KVUE Weather Team will continue to closely monitor this developing forecast.
In the meantime, the extended forecast can be found below:
