Publication Date August 8, 2016 | Weather Underground

Wet Week Ahead for Gulf Coast, Arizona Deserts

United States
Total rainfall projected by NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center for the 7-day period from 8:00 am EDT Monday, August 8, 2016, to 8:00 am EDT Monday, August 15. Some localized amounts could exceed these projections by a considerable margin. Image: NOAA/NWS/WPC
Total rainfall projected by NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center for the 7-day period from 8:00 am EDT Monday, August 8, 2016, to 8:00 am EDT Monday, August 15. Some localized amounts could exceed these projections by a considerable margin. Image: NOAA/NWS/WPC

The deluge has already begun across the central Gulf Coast, especially along the Florida coast from Tallahassee to Tampa, where totals of 3-6” were widespread from Sunday into Monday. These showers and thunderstorms are being fed by very high amounts of atmospheric moisture (more than 2” of precipitable water, the amount of water vapor in a column of air) across the southeastern U.S....This complex will trudge westward during the week, perhaps reaching Louisiana by around Friday. 

The tilted structure of the low and its location near the coast will work against tropical development, but the slow movement will lead to prodigious rainfall totals. A broad swath of rains may total 7” to 15” by the end of the week along the central Gulf Coast. Within this area, we’re bound to see localized weather features producing higher amounts--perhaps quite a bit higher--though the locations will be near-impossible to predict before the thunderstorms actually develop