Parts of the South are yet again at risk of facing severe storms Friday that could bring damaging winds, large hail and the possibility of tornadoes to millions in north-central Texas.
More than 12 million people in Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, are under a significant risk for severe thunderstorms, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The Level 3 of 5 threat includes Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin.
The state could see baseball-size hail and wind gusts reaching hurricane speeds of 74 mph or higher. A few tornadoes are also possible into the afternoon and early evening, forecasters at the National Weather Service in Fort Worth said.
Much of the rest of east Texas is under Level 2 threat, including Houston, the Weather Prediction Center said.
“Large hail will be the primary threat with supercells, with a couple of instances of 3+ inch stones possible,” the prediction center warned.
Large hail, high winds and a couple of isolated tornadoes are possible along the borders with Oklahoma and Arkansas, according to the prediction center.
The severe weather threat comes as another storm system triggered tornado reports, gusty winds and dangerously large hail in Texas and Florida this week.
On Thursday evening, the storm whipped up a tornado near Hosford, Florida, after which a dozen homes were destroyed and about 20 others were damaged, according to Rhonda Lewis, the head of Liberty County Emergency Management.
Six of the seven tornado reports recorded Thursday were across the Florida Panhandle, while one was in southwestern Georgia.