Severe storms likely in DFW Thursday: timing, risks and everything you need to know

DALLAS – We will be tracking these strong and violent storms in North Texas until they leave the area tonight.

Stick with WFAA and the WFAA app for continuous coverage throughout Thursday, starting with Daybreak and Meteorologist Greg Fields at 4:30 AM and updates from Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus at 5:00 PM, 6:00 PM, and 10:00 PM.

Thursday is expected to be an active weather day in North Texas with severe thunderstorms and potential tornadoes.

Harsh potential will increase as you move east. This is indicated by a number of risk categories assigned by the National Weather Service of North Texas, with the region’s far west being “marginal” risk category 1, most of Dallas and Fort Worth being category 2 and 3, “slight and high” risk respectively. , and the eastern part of the region – the 4th category of “moderate” risk.

Here is the current forecast:

For the record, levels 1 and 2 are very common here in North Texas during the severe weather season. Level 3 risk is certainly not uncommon, but is less common. Level 4 risks are rare and we may only see one or two (if any) in a given year. Level 5, which is NOT in the forecast, is very rare. We have a lot more information about risk categories here.

The day will start cloudy and stuffy, with occasional showers or thunderstorms possible. Severe threat will be very low on Thursday morning, but it’s not impossible to see rain here or there.

There is a greater chance of a storm in the afternoon and evening when a cold front enters North Texas.

Storms will develop along this cold front, likely somewhere to the west of the DFW area. Exactly where is not entirely clear yet, but probably between Abilene and Fort Worth.

These storms will then line up and sweep through North Texas, arriving in DFW sometime between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

Here’s an idea for a timeline:

High gusts (60-70 mph) and large hail (the size of a quarter golf ball) will be the main problem with this storm line. In linear thunderstorms, the tornado threat is certainly not zero, but it is lower than in individual supercell-type thunderstorms. Within this line, there may be several short spinning tornadoes.

Storms will move east and out of North Texas during the late night hours and the area will be free of storms by midnight.

From Thursday to Friday morning, wind gusts without thunderstorms can reach 50 miles per hour. By Friday morning and afternoon the wind will subside.

Please keep an eye on the weather on Thursday as our entire team monitors the storms from development to release.