WEATHER ALERT: Tornado watch issued for Houston region

HOUSTON – A tornado watch has been issued for Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda and Wharton counties until 11 a.m. as a line of thunderstorms continues to push into the metro area.

An earlier watch for counties to the north of the Houston Metro was allowed to expire.

As of 2 a.m. Thursday, the strongest storm is in the College Station area and moving to the northeast at 40 to 50 mph, bringing with it heavy rain and lots of lightning.

LIVE: Watch KPRC2 News Today coverage of storms

As the front continues to move through the area, the roads will remain slick through Thursday morning’s commute into the afternoon.

If the system stalls, the rainfall could cause some street flooding, but the primary issue will be the high winds and the possibility for isolated tornadoes.

Wind gusts of 40 mph will be impacting several counties. The broader line of storms is still on pace to impact the Houston area between 4:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.

RADAR: Check the interactive radar to track the rain

The first round of storms moved through Wednesday evening, but the real threat comes with the second round of storms, which will produce a greater chance for severe weather.

About 1 to 3 inches of rain could lead to some minor street flooding. Damaging winds and isolated tornadoes are also possible. Wind gusts this morning have been up to 40 mph in some locations.

As storms pass through Thursday morning by 8 or 9 a.m., temperatures will drop a bit but will still make it back to the low 70s by Thursday afternoon with the sun creeping back out.

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