Power outages reported in Texas as severe weather rolls in

Update: Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 3:56 p.m.

Thousands of Texas residents are starting to see power outages as storms roll in through the Lone Star State. Many of those affected are in North Texas and Dallas-Fort Worth. According to Oncor, a power outage website, over 1,500 customers are without power.

The threat for severe weather is expected to continue through Friday morning, forecasters say.  

Original Story:

It’s been a wild couple weeks of weather in the Lone Start State. Snow fell on fire-torn regions of the Texas Panhandle, temperatures yo-yoed back and forth over the weekend, and some regions saw record high temperatures for winter. Now, spring has seemingly sprung, and thunderstorms are sweeping Texas that could bring large hail, strong winds, flooding, and even possibly tornadoes to much of the state, according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service is alerting several major cities across Texas that a cold front moving across the region, combined with a dry line, could bring severe seasonal weather to the state Thursday night, March 7, headed into Friday. It’s all tied to slightly cooler days, so there’s a bit of a silver lining.

A situation report from the National Weather Service Austin-San Antonio office shows much of the Texas Hill Country, from Rocksprings to Georgetown, along the northern section of the region has the highest risk for severe storm impacts Thursday night and into Friday morning.

San Antonio and Austin still have a good chance of seeing thunderstorms, but it seems like the large hail and risk of isolated tornadoes is predominantly tied to the Hill Country. Burnet remains at the highest risk, reaching a Level 2 of 5 risk label form the national weather agency. The highest risk for severe storms falls between 2 a.m. and 11 a.m. Friday morning, March 8.

“Some drizzle or light rain is possible this morning with showers and storms developing in the afternoon,” the National Weather Service tweeted Thursday morning. “Isolated strong to severe storms possible overnight into Friday morning. Cooler this weekend and warming next week.”

Much of South Central Texas will see a short-lived cooling trend tied to the severe weather. After several days in the 80s, highs will dip down into the mid 60s and low 70s throughout the end of the week. Lows, on the other hand, could dip down into the 40s and even approach the upper 30s in some areas of South Central Texas over the weekend.

“Tonight: Some drizzle or spotty light showers develop early Thursday a.m.,” the National Weather Service tweeted Wednesday night. “There is a low-end severe risk that will arrive along a Pacific cold front on Friday morning, mainly between 2am-11am. The best chance for severe wx will stay north, but isolated large hail is possible here.”

A hazardous weather outlook for the Texas Panhandle, namely from the Amarillo National Weather Service Office, shows elevated fire risks Thursday afternoon as winds pick up across the region. A few severe thunderstorms could roll in across the eastern portion of North Texas, bringing chances of large hail and damaging winds along with lighting.

It’s not just rain that’s slated for the northern most tip of Texas either, according to National Weather Service information. Snow is in the forecast, and ping-pong-sized hail could fall during the thunderstorms Thursday.

“The potential is there for snowfall accumulations of an inch or greater across portions of the central and northern combined Panhandles on Friday,” the National Weather Service hazardous weather outlook reads.

The seven-day forecast from the weather agency shows a 50% to 60% chance of snowfall in Amarillo Friday headed into Friday night, March 8. Further, temperatures will start to cool down significantly after some warmer days, with high temps dipping down into the upper 30s Friday and then back up to the mid 50s by Saturday. This cooling trend will be seemingly short lived as the National Weather Service shows temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s at the start of next week.

“A few strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible for the eastern combined Panhandles on this evening,” the NWS Amarillo office tweeted Thursday morning. “Large hail & damaging winds will be the primary hazards. For other areas, small hail will be possible in addition to lightning.”

The Panhandle has seen lot of weather extremes over the past two weeks. More than 1 million acres continue to burn in the region as severe weather makes its way across the region. This will be the second time the area saw both snow and fire in a week, a unique situation not lost on local forecasters.

“We jam packed just about all the seasons into 48 hours for you,” the local NWS office tweeted Wednesday night. “Short and sweet. Fire weather in the west, severe weather in the east on Thursday, and winter weather on Friday. And we’ll be back to a high around 70 by Sunday.”

“Multiple rounds of thunderstorms are expected across North and Central Texas today and tonight,” the office wrote in a hazardous weather outlook Thursday, March 7. “Some storms will be capable of becoming strong or severe with primarily a hail threat and a secondary damaging wind threat. In addition, heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding, and this would be most likely near or north of Interstate 20 this afternoon and evening.”

A strong cold front sweeping through North Texas could continue to brig severe thunderstorms and hail to the region through Friday morning, according to the weather outlook. Large hail and damaging winds continue to be the main threat tied to the weather pattern.