Storms with possible hail, strong winds expected in North Texas as cold front arrives
Storms capable of producing hail and damaging winds are expected to develop over parts of North Texas on Thursday night as a cold front moves south from Oklahoma.
It remains unclear if threats like hail will reach the Dallas-Fort Worth region, according to Jason Dunn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. But he noted there will still be widespread rain and storms, and it’s just a question of “whether or not they’re significant.”
A line of thunderstorms is expected to develop late Thursday afternoon far to the northwest of Fort Worth around Childress, according to the weather service. These storms could produce hail larger than quarters, Dunn said, but should weaken as they move southeast toward Fort Worth and “may not even make it” here.
After midnight, a cold front is expected to move into areas of North Texas along the Red River, and there should be more storms associated with it bringing potentially strong and damaging winds.
Dunn said time will tell whether these winds will make it to Dallas-Fort Worth.
“It’s going to be close — the Red River counties are probably going to have a much better chance than the Metroplex,” he said. “This is one of those situations that’s not real clear cut. We’re just going to have to kind of wait and see.”
Dunn said chances are around 60 or 70 percent the region will see thunderstorms, but there’s only about a 20 percent they will be severe.
The weather service said in an alert on Thursday the evening storms northwest of Fort Worth should be isolated and a few may be severe. The later storms, according to the alert, will be “more widespread” and have a higher chance of impacting the Dallas-Fort Worth region.
A hazardous weather outlook from the weather service notes that overnight Thursday “thunderstorms will increase in coverage along a cold front” and “some of the stronger thunderstorms could produce damaging winds.”
Dunn said it should be cooler and drier on Friday on the heels of the cold front.
The high is expected to be around 73 on Friday, according to the weather service.
