Powerful Pacific jet stream to unleash series of storms from California into the Southern US
This comes as the Southwest has already experienced a very wet fall producing historic rainfall numbers. The rain will track into Texas, which has also endured one of the wettest Novembers on record.
A pattern of storms will stretch from Southern California through Texas and Florida this weekend
SEVERE STORM PATTERN TRACKS ACROSS THE SOUTH: FOX Weather Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen shares an exclusive analysis of the developing storms that will sweep across the Southern tier of the U.S., as rain will stretch from California to Texas and Florida this weekend and through Monday.
THE TAKEAWAY
- Cross-country storm pattern stretching from California to Texas and Florida will bring heavy rain.
- Storms will also produce colder air and result in snow at high elevations in the Sierra Nevada region.
- The pattern of storms will begin this weekend and continue through Monday.
A pattern of active storms is headed for the Southern Tier this week, stretching from Southern California into Texas and then Florida.
This week, an El Niño pattern is setting up across the Pacific, creating a cross-country storm as a southern jet stream funnels moisture from the Pacific Ocean across the Southern U.S.
This comes as a massive upper-level ridge is building across the interior West, acting like a wall against the storm track funneling from the Pacific.
"Instead of allowing systems to push cleanly inland, the ridge will split the jet and undercut the flow, pinching off upper-level energy into a cut-off low displaced well south of the primary atmospheric river corridor aimed at the Pacific Northwest," said the FOX Forecast Center.
Starting Friday and through Monday, the low will attract deep moisture from the Pacific into California and the Desert Southwest.
As this occurs, colder air will support early-season snowfall across the Sierra Nevada region, with higher elevations seeing the most accumulation. At the same time, Southern California Valleys and lower deserts will likely experience widespread rainfall.
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Winter Storm Watches are in effect for the Sierra Nevada Region as we head into the weekend.
This comes as the Southwest has already experienced a very wet fall producing historic rainfall numbers.
A pedestrian walks with an umbrella during a rainstorm in Los Angeles, California, on October 21, 2026. (Michael Yanow/NurPhoto / Getty Images)
The rain will track into Texas, which has also endured one of the wettest Novembers on record.
Locations such as Corpus Christi, Austin, and San Antonio could experience the heaviest rainfall on Saturday and Sunday, as a level 1 out of 4 flash flood risk is in place for the weekend.
A motorist drives through some standing water on the road in a residential area in Naples, Florida, Tuesday, August 19, 2008, in the wake of Tropical Storm Fay. ( Brian Blanco/Bradenton Herald/Tribune News Service / Getty Images)
It is too early to know the exact rain totals expected for the weekend, but a few inches are possible across Texas, which is already oversaturated from recent storms.
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Following this pattern of storms, the nasty, wet weather will track into Florida early next week, which could bring torrential rain to the state as a result of this long-term pattern.