Bob Peters Forecast

Rain, sometimes heavy, was widespread north of IH-30 Monday, and this could move southward to the IH-20 Corridor Monday night and Tuesday.

Radar estimates suggest that as much as six inches of rain may have fallen over parts of Bowie and Red River Counties. A flash flood watch was issued through Wednesday morning for that part of East Texas north of a Mineola-Tyler-Carthage line. These heavy rains extended northward into Southeast Oklahoma and Southwest Arkansas.

There was a clear shut-off to the rain line. South of a Sulphur Springs-Atlanta line, rain had not fallen through mid-afternoon. North of that line, it had fallen for much of the day. By 5 p.m., the rain line had dropped southward to a Corsicana-Tyler-Shreveport line.

In fact, Tyler's temperature fell from 91 at 4 p.m. to 82 an hour later as rain was approaching the city. Light rain began falling at Pounds Field at 4:45 p.m., but did not fall in the city through 7 p.m., though it began falling a few minutes thereafter. The rains were caused by another in a series of upper air disturbances dropping southeastward down the Plains in association with high pressure to the west of the region, and heading into the base of an upper air trough over eastern North America.

In addition, a weak and nearly stationary cold front ran west-to-east roughly along the IH-30 Corridor. Heavy rainfall had been forecast as far south as the IH-20 Corridor during the daylight hours of Monday which did not happen. The track of the disturbance was slightly to the east of what had been forecast.

Another disturbance was approaching the region from the northwest Monday afternoon. It is that feature which holds out the chance for rain southward to the IH-20 Corridor overnight and Tuesday morning.