AUSTIN, Texas – Rainy, stormy and cooler times are ahead and all the ingredients are coming together for the best chances of rain we have seen in the last two months. 

A cold front along with a potent upper low will collide with the warmth and moisture to turn on the spotty light rain during the day and heavy rain and storms tonight. 

There is a marginal to slight risk of severe storms and localized flooding. 

After the front pushes through, the weather will be wonderful for Election Day with sunny, cooler and drier conditions. Then here comes the next Pacific low to bring back the clouds and rain by the end of the week.

Buckle up, the weather pattern is turning very active all of a sudden.

Most of the rain and storms will happen tonight. The Storm Prediction Center has upgraded us to a SLIGHT risk of severe storms. This means isolated severe storms are possible generating moderate sized hail and damaging winds. 

Two rounds of storms are possible:

• First round: 3 – 5pm (isolated coverage)
• Second round: 6pm – 12am (numerous coverage)

Threats will be quarter sized hail, wind gusts of 50 – 60mph and there will be a low tornado risk.

The highest risk for hail will be along I-35 corridor and the highest risk of damaging winds from Austin to La Grange.

Rain totals are expected to be about .5 to 1″ with isolated spots possibly getting 1-2″.

Minor flooding with low-water crossings possible.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Millions of Texans will head to the polls on Tuesday, but almost half of all registered voters in the Lone Star state have already cast their ballots.

After a much-criticized election in 2022, Harris County eliminated the election administrator position and returned the authority to the county clerk, Teneshia Hudspeth. She said they are well prepared for Tuesday’s vote.

“It is going to be interesting. It is an important time in our country,” poll worker Garfield Teixeira said.

Teixeria has served on the front lines in more ways than one.

First, she served in the army for 22 years, but now, she’s on the front lines of democracy.

“We’re like Santa’s helpers. We’re like elves,” Teixeira said.

To Teixeira, a polling center is one of Santa’s many workshops.

She’s been helping out in Brazoria County during early voting.

“Friday, we had a lot of first-time voters. We welcomed them, and we tell them we should have a bell. Like, when you buy a car, to ring, to acknowledge them,” Teixeira said.

So far, 8.9 million Texans have voted early, including in-person and mail-in ballots. That’s about 47% of the 18.6 million registered voters.

It is less than the vote percentage in 2020, about 57%, but due to the pandemic, we had an extra week of early voting.

“The turnout has been tremendous,” Teixeira said.

Scrutiny of the election process has grown more intense, increasing the pressure on poll workers to perform flawlessly.

“I always pull up my information and refresh myself because… from one election to another. That is a big span of time,” Shaikil Grisham, who worked as a poll worker before moving to Texas, said.

Election monitors are tools used by the Department of Justice to keep an eye on any violations.

On Friday, top Texas election officials informed the DOJ that election monitors are not allowed in Texas polling places.

The agency had originally announced plans to dispatch machines to eight Texas counties.

The Texas secretary of state will send monitors to Harris County. The County welcomes those monitors as it has in previous elections.

For updates on this story, follow Alex Bozarjian on Facebook, X and Instagram.

It’s time to play basketball in West Lafayette. Monday night, Purdue will begin the 2024-25 regular season, opening against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The Boilermakers played two exhibition games to work off the rust prior to Monday’s season opener. But now, everything counts in the win-loss column, as Matt Painter’s team hopes to win a third straight Big Ten title and make another deep NCAA Tournament run.

Here’s how you can watch and listen to Monday night’s game.

BIG TEN BASKETBALL POWER RANKINGS: Can Purdue win a third straight Big Ten title? How will the four new teams fit in? Is Indiana back? A look at the first 2024-25 basketball power rankings. CLICK HERE