Halloween plans across a big slice of the country may get washed out on Saturday, courtesy of Tropical Storm Vance, formerly Hurricane Vance. Forecasters say moisture from the storm will collide with a frontal system starting Thursday, triggering rounds of heavy rain and possible flash flooding first in Texas, then across more than 20 states through the weekend, Fox Weather reports.
Texas faces the most serious flood risk, with some spots projected to receive 2 to 3 inches of rain and isolated totals of 4 to 5 inches. A Level 2 of 4 flash flood risk is in place there. By Friday and Saturday, the soggy setup spreads into the Plains, the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, the Great Lakes, and the Southeast, before sliding toward the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast by Sunday.
The storm, which peaked as a Category 3 hurricane off Mexico’s Pacific coast on Friday and lost hurricane status on Sunday, is currently in waters off Mexico’s southwest coast and it is expected to move northwest and continue to gradually weaken in the coming days, the National Hurricane Center said in a Monday update. The storm could make travel for Dia de Muertos hazardous in parts of southwest Mexico, especially on mountain roads connecting coastal towns to cemeteries, the Latin Times reports. Families using the roads to visit gravesites on Nov. 1 could encounter mudslides, with the ground already saturated from months of wet weather. “Through Thursday, Vance is expected to produce 2 to inches of rain, with isolated higher totals of 7 inches possible, across southern Sinaloa, southwest Durango and coastal sections of Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima and Michoacan,” the hurricane center said. This rainfall may produce flooding and mudslides, especially in areas along steep terrain.”