Record-breaking heat in the West, flooding forecast for the Gulf Coast
Sweltering weather across the West is expected to continue on Wednesday.
Phoenix hit 99 degrees on Tuesday, setting a new daily record. The Arizona city is expected to get up to 93 on Wednesday.
Temperatures across the West are expected to be 10 to 20 degrees above normal on Wednesday, even up in the Pacific Northwest, where Seattle and Portland, Oregon, could set new daily records.
Seattle is forecast to hit 70 degrees on Wednesday, while Portland is expected to get up to 78. Elsewhere, Salt Lake City is forecast to get into the upper 70s, which would near a daily temperature record of 79; and Grand Junction, Colorado, is expecting 80-degree weather, which is nearing the 81-degree record.
Texas is forecast to see 80-degree temperatures from El Paso to Dallas.
But a slow-moving warm front forecast for southern Texas later Wednesday is expected to bring heavy rain and possible flash flooding through Friday morning.
Parts of the Texas Gulf Coast could see 5 to 10 inches of rainfall between Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning with places such as Rockport and Corpus Christi expected to get the biggest soaking, possibly up to 15 inches in some isolated spots.
The wet weather could turn dangerous due to hard soils amid drought conditions. In the last 30 days, the region, including Corpus Christi, has gotten less than 5% of normal rainfall. Houston has seen less than 50% of normal rainfall over the last month.
The weather is also expected to take a dramatic turn in the Pacific Northwest as a storm pushing ashore later Wednesday could produce large hail, damaging wind gusts and possibly spawn tornadoes west of the Cascade Mountains.
The same system is forecast to track into the Rockies on Thursday, bringing strong winds and rain, but no severe storms.
