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The combination of the remnants of Hurricane Polo and a Pacific cold front started to unfold west of San Antonio on Wednesday in the form of rain showers.
The cold front is expected to continue its eastward slide towards San Antonio on Wednesday night and Thursday. A flood watch is in effect from 7 p.m. Wednesday night until 7 p.m. Friday night for all of South-Central Texas, including San Antonio, Austin, and the Hill Country. A flood watch means flooding is likely in some spots during that time frame.
Timing the arrival of the storm system in the San Antonio area has been tricky, as concerns among forecasters have grown that it may stall for a bit over the Hill Country and produce heavy rains and flooding. Rains of four to six inches were expected to fall along a line stretching from Fredericksburg to Uvalde and including Kerrville.
As of Wednesday morning, the weather service said the most likely arrival time for the main line of storms in the Alamo City was between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Thursday, making for a rainy commute to work or school. But all of Thursday and Friday are expected to be rainy for long periods of time, so expect slick roadways to be a problem for much of the week.
San Antonio's rainfall totals through Friday continue to be pegged at around three or four inches. Isolated spots could see six to eight inches where the storms stall. And there is more rain in the city's forecast for Saturday and Sunday. The rain activity should disappear on Sunday night.
Flooding concerns have stolen some of the limelight from a major benefit of Polo and the cold front: much cooler temperatures.
"Thankfully, it looks as if this will be our last truly hot day in a while as cooler temperatures and daily rain chances are in the picture for the remainder of the forecast," read a weather summary for Wednesday from the weather service.
The high on Thursday should remain in the upper 80s, and the news only gets better after that. Highs from Friday through Monday will hover just above 80, which is about 15 to 20 degrees below the unseasonable heat seen this September. Sunrise temps will dip to 70 during the same period.
"By Monday, medium range guidance shows cooler and drier weather along with pleasant humidity, something we've waited for months for. Fall is here," the weather summary added.
October in San Antonio is historically full of highs in the 80s and lows in the 60s, so fall indeed may be here to stay a while.
