East Texas braced itself for strong thunderstorms last night and even into the morning hours today, when we saw winds up to 65 mph in some areas producing scattered power outages and several areas of trees downed. There were even 2 confirmed weak tornadoes (EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale) that did minor damage near Talco and just South of Linden. However, today has been quiet with leftover cloud cover keeping temperatures in check this afternoon for Central portions of the area, while late afternoon sunshine has allowed temperatures in extreme Northern and Southern areas to warm up through the 80s and even low 90s. We're keeping our eye on a complex of storms forming near Central Texas which could head our way later tonight. If the storms do make it into the area tonight, strong winds and hail will be the primary threats. Tomorrow, we'll see a mix of clouds and some sunshine and another chance of showers and storms, mainly again in the late evening hours. This time, high pressure in the upper levels of the atmosphere should move the highest rain chances furthur Northward, with the highest chance of severe weather across East Central Oklahoma into Central Arkansas. However, given our warm, unstable atmosphere any storms that do form tomorrow afternoon could become severe. Rain chances will taper off on Saturday with hot and humid weather for the rest of the weekend for much of next week as well.
FORECAST DETAILS:
***SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR A LARGE PART OF EAST TEXAS THROUGH 6PM***
TONIGHT: Scattered thunderstorms are possible again mainly late...a few could be heavy. Rain chances: at least 40%. Low temperatures: 68-75. Winds: Variable 10-15 mph, but with higher gusts near thunderstorns.
FRIDAY: Chance of a few early morning showers or thunderstorms, then partly sunny, very warm and humid. High 95. Winds SSW 10 mph.
FRIDAY NIGHT: Increasing clouds with a 30%-40% chance of showers and storms overnight. Low 75.
SATURDAY: Early morning storms ending, then partly to mostly sunny, very warm and humid. High 96. Winds SSE 10-15 mph.
SUNDAY through WEDNESDAY: Sunny to partly cloudy hot and humid. Lows near 74 and Highs near 95. Winds S 10-20 mph.