CNN
—
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 across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, are under a significant risk for severe thunderstorms, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
The storm’s most extreme impacts – which include damaging winds and hail at least 2 inches wide– are expected to hit north-central Texas between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. CT, forecasters at the National Weather Service in Fort Worth said.
The looming conditions led the Storm Prediction Center to issue what it calls an enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms alert, a severity designation at Level 3 of 5, for those in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“Large hail will be the primary threat with supercells, with a couple of instances of 3+ inch stones possible,” the prediction center warned.
Elsewhere, there is a slight risk, Level 2 of 5, for severe storms extending from southern Texas to the Texas-Oklahoma and Texas-Arkansas borders, where large hail, high winds and a couple of isolated tornadoes are possible, according to the prediction center. Cities in that risk area include Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Corpus Christi.
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.
In addition to the tennis ball sized-hail that bombarded parts of Texas and Florida on Wednesday, hail 1.75 inches wide was also reported Thursday in multiple Florida cities, and thousands in northern Florida were left without power.
The two storm systems hitting the US on Friday have put about 56 million people in the South and Mid-Atlantic under thunderstorm risks.
The various levels of threats extend across the entire eastern half of Texas.
As for the Southeast, there’s a marginal risk for thunderstorms stretching from South Florida northward to Virginia. The warned area includes Miami, Jacksonville and Tampa in Florida; Savannah, Georgia; Charleston and Raleigh in the Carolinas; and Roanoke, Virginia.
“More rounds of heavy rain and severe weather expected to impact the southern tier states today and into early Friday, followed by portions of Texas by early Saturday,” the Weather Prediction Center said.
By Saturday, most of the severe weather will be winding down. While there’s still some uncertainty in the forecast, New Orleans, Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama, and Orlando and Tampa, Florida, could see damaging winds, hail and even an isolated tornado.
Sumber: www.cnn.com
