Heavy rain fell across North Texas overnight Wednesday and continued through Thursday morning. By midday, the skies cleared, setting up a beautiful few days ahead. North Texans woke up Thursday to widespread heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Some parts of the region had more than 6 inches of rain Wednesday night into Thursday. First Alert meteorologist Erin Moran has the forecast.

The last big rain in the metroplex was mid-December. That last event earlier in the month was a mix of sleet, snow and freezing rain. On Wednesday and Thursday, it will be just rain with the heaviest amounts falling overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.

We will likely face a flooding risk by Thursday as strong storms become more numerous. Some areas could get 4"-6" of rain over the event.

Governor Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to deploy additional state resources, including swiftwater rescue boat squads and urban search and rescue teams. Among them is a Fort Worth Fire Rescue squad, which deployed this morning to stage in Abilene and could be moved depending on the evolving situation.

A sprawling winter storm that is pushing slowly across the United States will bring a risk of severe weather and excessive rainfall to a large part of the south-central United States from Wednesday into Friday. Isolated thunderstorms, flooding rains and damaging winds are all possible in an area between East Texas and western Kentucky.