Remnants of Hurricane Polo bring record flooding threat to central US

The remnants of Hurricane Polo are channelling a historic plume of tropical moisture north through the central United States, with the National Weather Service warning of multiple days of dangerous flash flooding (https://weather.com/2026/10/01/forecast/regional/hurricane-polo-southwest-plains-flash-flooding). Rainfall rates of up to 2 inches per hour are possible as the plume advances, with atmospheric moisture near or above record late-September levels over Texas and Oklahoma (https://weather.com/2026/10/01/forecast/regional/hurricane-polo-southwest-plains-flash-flooding).

The NWS has issued flood watches across ten states — Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri (https://www.theweather.com/news/forecasts/nws-warns-of-multiple-days-of-flooding-rain-and-storms-across-the-central-us-from-remnants-of-hurricane-polo.html). On Tuesday it issued a flash flood emergency in southern New Mexico over the potential failure of McLeod Dam on the McLeod Arroyo in north-west Dona Ana County, with evacuation orders for downstream communities (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2026/09/30/hybrid-storm-begins-forecast/92018190007/).

The Weather Prediction Center has flagged five consecutive days of excessive-rainfall risk, three of them at moderate risk — level three of four (https://www.theweather.com/news/forecasts/nws-warns-of-multiple-days-of-flooding-rain-and-storms-across-the-central-us-from-remnants-of-hurricane-polo.html). The southern Plains could see 3 to 5 inches of rain, with locally up to 8 inches, including Dallas, Austin and San Antonio; Thursday’s threat stretches from Texas to the Great Lakes, and a broad weekend swath could see 4 to 8 inches (https://weather.com/2026/10/01/forecast/regional/hurricane-polo-southwest-plains-flash-flooding).

Lincoln, Nebraska recorded more than 6 inches of rain on 30 September, breaking its all-time wettest single day of 5.45 inches set on 29 August 1910, according to the NWS in Omaha (https://weather.com/2026/10/01/forecast/regional/hurricane-polo-southwest-plains-flash-flooding). If all the rain is attributed to Polo’s remnants, it could be Nebraska’s highest rainfall total from a tropical cyclone, though that is not yet confirmed (https://weather.com/2026/10/01/forecast/regional/hurricane-polo-southwest-plains-flash-flooding).