Heavy rain is possible for a portion of the Southern Plains this weekend

A large high low will soon be cut off from the jet stream and linger in the desert southwest as we approach this weekend. This storm system will bring windy weather to parts of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado, but the big news is that it will bring some much-needed precipitation.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible across New Mexico and the western Texas/Oklahoma panhandles as early as Friday. These storms could impact some Friday night football games. Most storms remain below the severity limit, but those that manage to become severe pose primarily a damaging wind threat.

Large hail and a brief tornado cannot be ruled out, but the chance of both is near 0%.

Rain and thunderstorms will continue through Saturday and Sunday, with much of the rain expected to fall over northeastern New Mexico. Even though it won't rain all weekend, training thunderstorms are expected, which can lead to heavy rainfall. Northeast New Mexico could see up to 2 to 4 inches of widespread rain, and certain areas could see even more rain Friday night into Monday morning.

The amount of rainfall could be so high that it exceeds soil absorption, meaning flooding could become a problem in areas that don't see many breaks in rain within the 72-hour period. This rain is expected to fall primarily in Lake Ute's watershed, so the lake could rise this weekend and into next week. Currently, Lake Ute contains approximately 170,000 acres of water. Once the lake reaches 200,000 acre capacity, the mandatory spillway will release water into the Canadian River. It is currently not expected that this will be the case with this rain event.

Rain and T-storms will sweep across the Panhandles Sunday evening along with a Pacific front and begin drying out the region from west to east Monday. The following week looks calm weather-wise, with some warmer weather expected during the work week.

For more information, download our Storm Search 7 weather app to keep up with the Panhandle spirit on the go.