Updated Oct. 23, 2019 3:42 PM
A storm is forecast to form and deliver drenching rain and localized flooding from a large part of the South to the Tennessee and Ohio valleys.
A general 1-3 inches of rain is forecast to fall from central and coastal Texas and Louisiana late this week, northeastward to Ohio and West Virginia this weekend.
However, patches of 3- to 5-inch rainfall can occur along the Texas coast and in part of the Tennessee Valley from the storm. Within these locations, an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 6 inches can occur with urban and poor-drainage area flooding.
The storm is forecast to take a track west of the Appalachians in the Southern states. This means that while some rain will fall over northeastern Gulf and southern Atlantic coastal areas, the bulk of the rain will fall west of the mountains.
Major urban areas likely to be drenched by the storm with the risk of street flooding include Houston, Beaumont and Lufkin, Texas; Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and Shreveport, Louisiana; Jackson and Tupelo, Mississippi; Huntsville, Alabama; Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; Jonesboro, Arkansas; and Lexington and London; Kentucky.
"The large rainstorm and areas of low clouds and fog that accompany it can slow travel on the highways and lead to airline delays," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck.
"Some outdoor plans, such as Friday night and Saturday football games, could be saturated," Smerbeck said.
The storm should move out of eastern Texas by Friday evening, and it is not likely to spread into the Ohio Valley until late Friday night and Saturday.
Southeastern Conference college football games in Knoxville, Tennessee; Lexington, Kentucky; and Tuscaloosa, Alabama; are likely to be wet at least for part of the time on Saturday.
Rainy conditions are in store for the Big Ten matchup between Wisconsin and Ohio State at Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday. Rain should hold off for the Penn State and Michigan Stage game in East Lansing, Michigan, during Saturday afternoon.
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The bulk of the rain is likely to fall on Detroit and Cleveland during Saturday night with a thorough soaking. However, while the most likely time for some rain in Chicago will be Saturday night as well, the area may be on the northwest fringe of the storm with only a couple of showers.
Although the storm will pick up some forward speed over the weekend, the rain may take several hours to move out of the Martinsville, Virginia, area, where the NASCAR FirstData® 500 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, early on, enough cold air will be in place to allow a bit of wet snow or a rain and snow mix over parts of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles during Thursday night. Grassy areas and windshields could be coated.
In terms of thunderstorm activity, thunderstorms are likely from parts of central Texas to the lower Ohio Valley along with the rain. While widespread severe weather is not anticipated with this storm, some of the storms can be gusty with brief and isolated damage possible.
Aside from the risk of isolated flooding and and severe thunderstorms, the much of the rain will fall on areas in need of moisture over the South.
Conditions range from abnormally dry to extreme drought from central Texas to Georgia and eastern Kentucky. Pockets of moderate drought extend as far north as the Ohio Valley.
As the storm reaches the lower Great Lakes region later this weekend, it will tap into Atlantic moisture and result in rainfall for much of the Northeast.
Download the free AccuWeather app to see the latest forecast for your region. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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