Besides bringing panic and destruction to Acapulco and the southern Mexican Pacific shoreline, the weakening Hurricane Otis is setting up a moisture fetch that may lead to chances for severe weather and torrential rainfall in Texas.
Otis infamously blew up to a Category 5 (165 mph) storm before making landfall near Acapulco late last night. And while the circulation of the hurricane will be shredded by its trip northward over mountains and away from a warm water source, the weakness left behind by Otis will serve as a conduit for perhaps one or two more disturbances, and a flow of moist, unstable air that will ultimately collide with an oncoming cold front. This is the reason why everyone in the Lone Star State, and for that matter a wide stretch of U.S. territory from Texas into the Great Lakes region, should be looking for thunderstorm and flooding potential between now and next Monday. After that point, most everyone east of the Rocky Mountains will settle into colder and drier air.