Excessive Rainfall Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
1200 PM EDT Sat Jul 18 2026
Day 2
Valid 12Z Sun Jul 19 2026 - 12Z Mon Jul 20 2026

...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OVER PORTIONS THE
SOUTHWESTERN U.S. FROM WEST TEXAS TO SOUTHERN UTAH...

...Southwestern U.S....
The overall synoptic configuration remains largely unchanged from
the previous period, with a persistent monsoon pattern locked in
place -- keeping scattered to widespread convection in the forecast
from West Texas into the Great Basin and southern Rockies. Given
that PW anomalies remain notably high at 2-3 std dev above normal,
and soil conditions moist from prior rainfall, confidence was
sufficient to introduce a Slight Risk that extends from West Texas
northeastward across southern New Mexico, central and northern
Arizona, into southern Utah.

An upper-level high centered over northern Utah and Colorado will
support steady easterly flow across the southern tier, effectively
tapping into and beginning to pull mid-level energy that has been
centered over West Texas along this deeper moisture axis. The
highest areal average precipitation amounts are expected to center
along the higher terrain, where slow-moving storms are expected to
develop with afternoon heating, before propagating off of the
terrain along convective outflows. Given sensitive, moist soil
conditions from successive days of widespread storms, much of this
area remains vulnerable to rapid runoff. Complex terrain, slot
canyons, and recent wildfire burn scars will further accentuate the
threat for flash flooding across parts of the region.

...Mid Mississippi Valley east to the Carolinas and south to the
Eastern Gulf Coast...
A more expansive Marginal Risk has been drawn for this period,
reflecting deep moisture atmospheric profiles and an increasing
potential for localized heavy rainfall amounts producing isolated
runoff concerns. This risk is centered along a cold front dropping
into North Carolina and the Tennessee Valley, while is begins to
slow over the lower Ohio and mid Mississippi valleys. Diurnal
heating and prefrontal convergence will tap into this moisture
pool, generating clusters of slow-moving efficient thunderstorms,
capable of producing 1-2 inch totals, with isolated higher amounts.
There remains a greater threat for more widespread heavier amounts
along the eastern extent of this area, centered over southeastern
Virginia and eastern North Carolina, where more defined upper
forcing will help accentuate the threat for amounts over 3 inches.

Additionally, the Marginal Risk has been extended southward down to
the Gulf Coast. This accounts for the deep tropical moisture
arriving ahead of the slow-moving disturbance lingering in the
eastern Gulf, as well as favorable low-level convergence focusing
along a slow-moving surface trough extending north from the Gulf.
Highly efficient warm-rain processes along these features will
maintain a threat for heavy, short-term duration totals and
isolated runoff concerns.

Pereira


Day 2 threat area: www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/98epoints.txt