Saturday's severe weather threats: Large hail for Fort Worth, tornadoes to the east
After a week of steady rainfall and near-freezing temperatures, add hail storms to the growing list of inclement weather possibilities in North Texas.
Meteorologists with the The National Weather Service in Fort Worth say there's a strong severe weather threat that could produce heavy rainfall and large hail in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and west of Interstate 35W, while damaging winds and tornadoes are possible to the east.
The storms are expected to begin early Saturday and last into the afternoon and early-evening hours.
The weather could wreak havoc for The Cowtown Marathon races scheduled for Saturday. There's a 10K at 7 a.m., an adults 5K at 8:30 a.m. and a kids 5K at 9:30 a.m. The marathon's website says the races take place "rain or shine," though they could be be slightly delayed if there's lightning or hail in the area.
"As we all know by now, it's been quite cold and rainy, and that's because of a stalled front to our south," said meteorologist Matt Stalley. "That's going to lift northward and create some severe storms."
Severe storms kicked off the week's steady rainfall when a front arrived early Tuesday and three EF-O tornadoes were confirmed in Godley, Joshua and DeSoto, damaging homes and injuring three people.
Saturday's storms could also bring as much as another inch of rain to the already soaked Dallas-Fort Worth area, where rainfall totals have ranged between 4 and 7 inches.
While heavy rain and flooding were a concern in DFW, areas to the west — in Parker County and beyond — saw rain turn to ice on tree branches and roadways.
The incoming storms have the potential to throw another challenge at crews for United Cooperative Services, who are working to restore power to thousands of homes in Erath County, where ice-laden tree branches have been falling, pulling down power lines with them.
While the storms could be nasty, the temperatures will rise to the mid-60s in the DFW area on Saturday, before dropping to 35 degrees Sunday morning. But it should be dry and sunny throughout the day, near-perfect conditions for the final day of The Cowtown Marathon.
Stephen English: 817-390-7330, @sbenglish74
This story was originally published February 23, 2018 at 9:02 AM with the headline "Saturday's severe weather threats: Large hail for Fort Worth, tornadoes to the east."