Relentless severe weather, flash flooding target Texas through at least Saturday

LUBBOCK, Texas – Another day of severe weather will impact Texas and the southern Plains with two rounds of storms on Thursday, bringing the threat of damaging winds, very large hail and possible tornadoes.

Thunderstorms began to develop Thursday morning as they raced along and south of the Red River across North Texas.

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Three-hour radar loop. Warning boxes are color coded as: Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in yellow, Tornado Warnings in red, Tornado Warnings with a confirmed tornado in purple, Flash Flood Warnings in green and Flash Flood Emergencies in pink.
(FOX Weather)

 

The FOX Forecast Center said this should bring the storms into the DallasFort Worth Metroplex around midday, where they will pose the risk of 60-mph wind gusts and dangerous lightning. Additional power outages will be possible. 

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A look at the current power outages across the south-central U.S.
(FOX Weather)

 

This activity will continue to move across East Texas through the afternoon packing 40-60 mph wind gusts, possibly reaching the Houston area as the sun sets.

Another round of storms is forecast to explode along a dryline across West Texas starting in the late afternoon.

“Here’s the outlook for today (Thursday). Everyone highlighted in red (below) really needs to be on guard,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said. “It doesn’t mean that you don’t need to be worried about this in Omaha (Nebraska) and Sioux Falls (South Dakota), but there’s more limited risk as you move up to the north.”

The Texas Panhandle will be the hot spot, where a Level 3 out of 5 potential exists for thunderstorms that will produce very large hail, Merwin added.

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Scattered severe storms are expected Thursday afternoon and evening across parts of the southern Plains and central High Plains, where large hail and wind damage will be possible.
(FOX Weather)

 

The FOX Forecast Center said hail will be the predominant threat from these storms. In the strongest thunderstorms, hail should easily grow to the size of golf balls or larger, and baseball-sized hail cannot be ruled out. A tornado or two will be possible as well. Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland and Odessa are in the threat area. 

These storms should congeal into another thunderstorm complex and move east into western Oklahoma and the Texas Low Rolling Plains, the FOX Forecast Center added.

A threat for severe wind gusts and some large hail appears likely to continue through much of Thursday evening. However, the threat becomes more isolated during the overnight hours as the storms move southeastward across Central and East Texas. During this time, Dallas could be hit yet again.

More severe storms likely Friday

The threat of severe storms will shift east on Friday, encompassing the more highly populated East Texas, southeastern Oklahoma and western Louisiana

One or two organized clusters of storms may evolve by Friday morning into the afternoon and pose a risk for severe wind and hail continuing across parts of the southern Plains into the lower Mississippi Valley, Texas Gulf Coast and Deep South Texas by Friday evening.
(FOX Weather)

 

One or two organized clusters of storms may evolve by Friday morning into the afternoon and pose a risk for severe wind and hail continuing across parts of the southern Plains into the lower Mississippi Valley, Texas Gulf Coast and Deep South Texas by Friday evening, the FOX Forecast Center said.

Repeat rounds of flash flooding possible

Flash flooding is possible this week across the Plains and as far north and east as the Midwest. The bull’s-eye for the heaviest rain will shift each day, pivoting from the south, back to the north and repeating.

A look at the flash flood threat through Saturday, June 1, 2024.
(FOX Weather)

 

Big cities like Dallas are dealing with heavy rain and a flash flooding threat as 3-5 inches of rain is expected to drench the region. 

A look at the rain forecast in the southern Plains through Saturday, June 1, 2024.
(FOX Weather)

 

Many locations across the South are running well above average for rain this year, whereas some locations in the central Plains would like to get in on the wet weather.

Based on the pattern, the FOX Forecast Center said it is a safe bet that just about everyone in the central part of the country will get some rain this week.