What North Texas storms mean for Mayfest, mosquitoes, pollen and more

Thunderstorms that dumped rain across Tarrant County Tuesday night didn’t turn out to be as severe as advertised.

More stormy weather is expected again overnight and Friday, with forecasters saying there’s a chance for hail, tornadoes and heavy wind.

Here are 5 things you need to know:

1. ‘Could be a little bit of everything’

Tuesday’s storm was labled as a “particularly dangerous situation” but a layer of warm air aloft — often called the cap — helped suppress the widespread development of severe storms.

Conditions will be different on Friday, when there’s a 60 to 70 percent chance of thunderstorms.

“We’re not going to be capped,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Dennis Cain. “There could be a little bit of everything. And it’s not going to be one and done. There could be some training of storms.”

The greatest chance for storms are Friday afternoon and Friday evening.

The Storm Prediction Center has predicted a slight chance for severe storms for North Texas.

Keeping an eye on Lake Worth.

2. Flooding threat not as severe

Earlier this week, the Tarrant Regional Water District warned residents in low-lying homes at Eagle Mountain Lake, Lake Bridgeport and Lake Worth to “begin taking precautions now and be prepared for additional flooding.”

But David Marshall, TRWD’s director of engineering and operations support, said the water district was a little more optimistic that things won’t be as bad as originally thought.

Issues remain, however, at Eagle Mountain Lake, where Marshall said “we’re going to be right on the edge of getting in that first house.”

Just how much rain falls will dicate the flooding threat.

“If we get 4 inches of rain, it will be a problem but if we get 2 inches, which is in the forecast, we should be OK,” Marshall said. “If we get a big mesoscale storm above the watershed, that’s another story.”

3. Mayfest keeping an eye on weather

The annual festival in Fort Worth’s Trinity Park, which begins Thursday afternoon and runs through Sunday, could be impacted by storms on Friday.

In the event of severe weather, Mayfest will update its social media pages — @MafestFW on Twitter and fb.com/mayfest on Facebook — and notify media outlets if the festival closes or delays opening.

While Friday does not look good, both Saturday and Sunday should bring near perfect weather, with party cloudy skies and high temperatures in the 70s and 80s.

Rain helps, hurts allergy sufferers

4. Spring rains lead to ‘stuttering pollination’

Storms can have both a positive and negative impact on springtime allergies.

Fort Worth allergist James Haden said rain can provide temporary relief but it sometimes confuses allergy sufferers since rain ultimately leads to more pollination in trees and grasses.

“This can lead to “stuttering pollination” where the pollen stops and starts in spurts and fits,” Haden said. “Patients may start feeling better and think that their season has passed, only to find new symptoms around the corner as the pollen counts rise again.”

Haden said springtime weather can also lead some to suffer from “thunderstorm asthma” when it starts raining.

“This is when grass pollen counts are in the air are high and rain drops strike the grass pollen and fracture them,” Haden said. “Sometimes these fractured pollen can cause worse asthma symptoms when inhaled for people who are allergic to grass than the intact grass pollen.”

Mosquitoes need stagnant water to reproduce

5. The more rain, the more mosquitoes

More rain equals more mosquitoes, said Joon Lee, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences with University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth.

“Spring rain is always helpful for mosquito populations to grow faster than they would do without,” said Lee, who added the mosquito season will kick into full gear in about three weeks.

Kelly Hanes, a spokesman for Tarrant County Public Health, said rainfall can wash away breeding sites, but the water that is left behind poses problems.

“Stagnant water can become the next great breeding site,” Hanes said. “You need to dump containers, drain pots, blow out gutters, pick up loose trash and shake off any tarps around your property.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 3:06 PM with the headline "What North Texas storms mean for Mayfest, mosquitoes, pollen and more."