AccuWeather.com is wrapping up live coverage of the severe weather that impacted the southern Plains. Thank you for staying up to date with the storm on AccuWeather.com. For additional coverage, you can stream AccuWeather NOW anytime on our website. Stay up to date on the latest weather in your area by downloading the AccuWeather mobile app and visiting AccuWeather.com. Click here for a complete recap of the deadly severe weather that rampaged across parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
AccuWeather Meteorologist Tony Laubach and his team were positioned in Denton, Texas, ahead of the severe weather on Friday, which would ultimately spawn over a dozen tornadoes by the evening hours.
However, according to Laubach, without the help of technology, this storm chase wouldn’t have been possible 20 years ago. “Technology is a godsend,” Laubach said. While his friend is driving the car, Laubach, who is sitting in the passenger seat, is able to check the latest weather forecast and stay in touch with AccuWeather forecasters with his laptop. With access to the latest forecast information, radar data and AccuWeather forecasters, he will be able to keep himself and his team safe from the dangerous storms.
While the tornado activity seen across much of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas on Friday has quieted overnight, thunderstorms have continued to press eastward, bringing heavy rain to a broad swath of the Southeast early Saturday morning.
Currently, these thunderstorms are not warned for tornadoes, hail, or damaging straight-line wind gusts. However, they can remain threatening nonetheless. Extremely heavy rain is ongoing in some storms, which may lead to water ponding on roadways and localized flooding in low-lying areas.
Gusty winds are also ongoing, and a few damaging gusts may still occur on Saturday as storms track toward the east.
In the wake of destructive storms, including a tornado that has led to at least 1 fatality, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is schedule to survey storm damage in southeastern portions of the state.
"Praying for Oklahomans impacted by today's tornadoes," Stitt said in a tweet, also noting that Bryan, Choctaw and Le Flore Counties were most notably impacted.
As of early Saturday morning, at least 2 confirmed tornado reports were received by the Storm Prediction Center, along with several reports of hail and damaging straight-line winds. While the severe threat has ended across Oklahoma and nearby portions of Texas and Arkansas, a cold front passing through the area has brought colder temperatures, which may prove disruptive to cleanup efforts on Saturday.
On the back end of the storm system that will produce severe weather across the southern Plains, cooler air will help fuel a brief period of snow. Snow will be possible from eastern Nebraska and western Iowa to eastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin Friday night into Saturday morning. For most areas, a general coating to an inch of snow is expected. While the roads will stay mainly wet, motorists should be cautious of slick spots and reduced visibility on the roadways. AccuWeather forecasters warn that where it manages to snow hard for a few hours, a slushy accumulation can occur on grassy surfaces.
Over half of all flood-related drownings occur when a vehicle is driven into dangerous floodwaters, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If you come across a flooded roadway, it is important to Turn Around, Don’t Drown! ® Just one foot of moving water is enough to sweep away your vehicle. While you should avoid driving into flooded roadways, if you happen to find yourself trapped in your car in fasting moving water the most important thing to remember to do is to stay calm. According to Car.com, here are a few other things to remember:
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Turn on your headlights and hazard lights to make it easier for emergency personnel to locate you.
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Unbuckle your seat belt and unlock your doors.
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Take your jacket and outer clothing off.
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If you can open your windows, do so slowly, climb out, move to higher ground and call 911.
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If you can’t open your windows, you’ll have to open your doors. To do so, you must first equalize the water pressure inside your car to match the outside. This will require water to enter the car and fill up to about neck level. Once the doors are open, swim safely to land and call 911.
There is significant damage inside the city limits of Hughes Springs, Texas, according to the local fire department. The Hughes Springs Police Department in Cass County reported that there were several trees down across the count, fire trucks trapped at the station due to damage and an ongoing fire in the area, according to KSLA News 12. A preliminary tornado report from the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center noted a potential tornado trekked through the area at 7:39 p.m., local time.
More than 50,000 power customers in Texas were without power as a result of damaging storms that impacted the area. A vast majority of the outages come from northeast Texas, with the highest percentage of customers coming from Red River County, where more than 50% of customers are without power. In Bowie County, over 5,500 customers were left without power as of Friday night, according to PowerOutage.us
The Oklahoma Mesonet site at Idabel, Oklahoma, was possibly struck by a tornado on Friday evening, according to the station. “At approximately 6:50 pm, the Oklahoma Mesonet site at Idabel was struck by what is believed to be a tornado. The site recorded a maximum wind gust of 108 mph with the expected precipitous pressure drop,” officials at the site posted on Twitter. Idabel was in an area under a tornado emergency at the time.
The second tornado emergency since April 2022 was issued Friday night for an area that included New Boston, a town located in Bowie County, Texas, on I-30. Night had already fallen in the area, making for a particularly dangerous setup. A few photos posted over Twitter after the storm had passed through showed a few structures destroyed or damaged, illuminated only by the headlights of a vehicle.
A tornado emergency and particularly dangerous situation tornado warning was issued for southwestern McCurtain County and Northeastern Red River County in Oklahoma. A confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado was located 9 miles southwest of Idabel, or 14 miles northeast of Clarksville at 6:44 p.m. CT. This is the first tornado emergency issued since April.
Fire and rescue officials were investigating reports of multiple people trapped inside their homes amid the rubble left behind by a tornado north of Paris, Texas – one of many confirmed twisters that touched down in the Dallas area Friday night. The tornado near Paris reportedly went through Powderly, Texas.
Two other tornadoes were also confirmed: one south of Paris in Miller Grove near Sulphur Springs and one near Bagwell about 7 miles west of Clarksville, around 6:17 p.m. CDT. The Bagwell one was moving at 50 mph, producing quarter-size hail, according to authorities. No injuries were reported in relation to those tornadoes.
Amid severe storms in the Plains on Nov. 4, a tornado formed not far from Sulphur Springs.
Multiple scenes of tornado and other storm damage and destruction were starting to come in from Texas just hours after a line of intense and severe storms started moving through the southern Plains. The storm was spawning tornados in the Dallas area, including ones near Roxton and Sulphur Springs, Texas. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Videos and photos showed roofs ripped off homes, fences torn apart, small buildings leveled and utility poles knocked over with downed power lines:
Damage near Paris, Texas, after a tornado was confirmed near Roxton, roughly 14 miles west of Paris and northeast of Dallas. (Twitter/@timothypowell21)
Trained weather spotters confirmed another tornado had touched down just east of Dallas in Hopkins County around 5:22 p.m. CDT on Friday. The twister was sighted south of Sulphur Springs near the Greenview area and was moving northeast at 55 mph. Tornado sirens could be heard going off as Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer was live on the scene. AccuWeather's Tony Laubach captured the twister:
Meteorologist Tony Laubach captured this video of an active tornado cell not far from the Dallas-Fort Worth area on the afternoon of Nov. 4.
A tornado forms near Sulphur Springs, Texas, on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. (Reed Timmer)
More than 20,000 households and businesses are without power in Texas late Friday afternoon as thunderstorms and more severe weather large swaths of the state. According to PowerOutage.us, 23,807 utility customers have already lost power. Neighboring states like Oklahoma and Louisiana that are also in the line of the storms, have experienced minimal outages. Over 40 counties in Texas have had tornado warnings issued throughout the day, and more were expected, meaning power outages could.
A confirmed tornado was reported near Roxton, Texas, northeast of Dallas, at 4:17 p.m., local time, according to the National Weather Service in Forth Worth. Roxton is about 14 miles west of Paris, Texas. The tornado was moving northeast at 45 mph and was confirmed by trained weather spotters near Honey Grove. A tornado warning was issued as a result of the tornado and includes Paris, Texas.
Several tornado warnings were being issued in northern parts of the state, including in Kaufman, Texas, southeast of Dallas, as captured in this footage from AccuWeather's Tony Laubach in Wills Point:
As severe storms moved through Texas on Nov. 4, meteorologist Tony Laubach captured these videos of a dangerous storm cell.
A Flash Flood Warning has been issued for southeastern Oklahoma as thunderstorms producing heavy rain continued to impact the area. Between 1 and 2 inches of rain have fallen in some areas in the warning area, according to NWS Norman. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly with an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain possible. A bulldozer was caught in floodwaters near Choctaw Casino in Colbert, Oklahoma, according to a photo posted on Twitter:
Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer went live via YouTube on Friday while covering the severe storms moving through Texas and Oklahoma. Timmer, at times driving through heavy rain, set his sights on a tornado-warned storm east of Dallas-Fort Worth, bringing his camera along for viewers to accompany him on his drive. While there were still a few people out on the road, the traffic began to clear out the deeper he drove into the storm.
The University of Oklahoma sent out its Rapid X-band Polarimetric (RaXPol) Radar early Friday afternoon ahead of severe weather. RaXPol is supposed to provide a versatile platform for meteorological data gathering and investigation, providing volume scans, updates and images from its field operations. According to RaXPol’s website, “the truck-based platform can quickly maneuver to a target area, deploy, operate, and depart with minimal preparation,” advantages that make it optimal for observation of severe weather.
Two tornado warnings have been issued in north-central Texas as a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado moves through the area. Shortly after 3 p.m., the National Weather Service noted rotations in Mertens, Texas, and earlier, a storm was located 7 miles northwest of Hillsboro and was moving northeast at 50 mph. The warnings included Covington, Itasca, Bynum and Italy. Both warnings cover several miles of the southern portion of Interstate 35W and Interstate 35E. The NWS also noted rotation was moving toward Woodbury as of 2:50 p.m., local time. Other reports were coming in at a fast clip:
As cities across the southern portion of the United States are under severe weather alerts through Friday evening, residents in the risk areas should have a plan in place on where to take shelter in the case of a tornado. Being in a mobile home is one of the worst places to be during a tornado, so having a plan on where to go in the event of one is vital.The best place to shelter is at a tornado storm shelter or a specifically-designed FEMA Safe Room, according to NOAA WRN Ambassadors. This is also true for protection from hail and lightning. If these options are not available, the next best option is getting into a basement or an interior room of a well-constructed home or building away from windows. It is a bad idea to take shelter in large, open rooms such as gymnasiums or manufactured housing. The worst options for taking shelter include mobile homes, staying in your vehicle and taking shelter under a highway overpass.
The severe weather moving through Oklahoma on Friday afternoon has resulted in multiple reports of damage in the extreme southern portion of the state. High winds associated with the storm resulted in mobile homes being damaged around Platter and Calera, Oklahoma. As the storm moved northeast, there were reports of trees and power lines down at Calera High School. Platter and Calera are both located just off US-75 to the southwest of Durant, Oklahoma.
Minor flooding began to pool into streets and parking lots Friday afternoon in Denton, Texas, as heavy rain fell over the area. “This situation is escalating very quickly in the way AccuWeather meteorologists had anticipated in advance,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said, adding that the two main areas of focus for developing storms were in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and northward into eastern Oklahoma. “We’ve noticed these storms are developing, intensifying quickly and rapidly developing rotation,” he added. “People should react immediately to tornado warnings. These storms out in front of the squall line will have the greatest tornado risk, especially if they can stay apart from each other.”
Occasional quarter-size hail (1 inch) in Haskell County, Texas, was the first hail report of the day, which met severe criteria. Just minutes later, more severe hail reports came in across Grayson County and Denison County, Texas. Both areas recorded quarter-sized (1 inch) hail. A hail report is considered severe if the size of the hailstone is at or above 1 inch in diameter. The first hail report in the Dallas-Fort Worth area occurred just before 2 p.m., local time, in Everman, Texas.
Gov. Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to increase the readiness level of the State Emergency Operations Center (SOC) to Level II (Escalated Response) to coordinate the state’s response to severe weather expected Friday. Severe storms with damaging winds, strong tornadoes, large hail, and potential flash flooding are forecasted for much of the eastern half of Texas through late tonight. “The State of Texas continues readying resources to protect Texans against severe weather threats impacting our state, and we urge Texans to heed the guidance of their emergency officials to keep themselves and their loved ones safe,” said Abbott. Once storms have passed and only when it is safe to do so, Texans are encouraged to report any damage to homes and businesses using the Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool (iSTAT) damage survey at damage.tdem.texas.gov.
Multiple people were injured in a 100-vehicle pileup along an icy overpass in Denver early Friday morning after the city overnight saw its first snowfall from the same weather system that’s producing severe storms in Texas, Oklahoma and other areas of the southern Plains.
Denver police shut down both sides of West 6th Avenue from North Kalamath Street to North Federal Boulevard around 6 a.m. CT due to the massive number of chain-reaction crashes. Those taken to local hospitals were not reported to have life-threatening injuries, authorities said. The road was reopened shortly after noon local time.
About an hour earlier, slick road conditions also caused a smaller multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 25 in the northern part of the city, according to Adams County Fire Rescue. No injuries were reported.
The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has issued a tornado watch for parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas until 8 p.m. CDT. Typically issued a few hours before tornadic storms are expected to hit a broad area, a tornado watch is used to alert the public of a developing threat for twisters. When under a watch, it is important to be prepared and remain vigilant.
“While thunderstorms will be possible really any time in the next few hours in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, we expect the line of thunderstorms to arrive the western part of the metroplex after 4 p.m. CDT and exit after 7 p.m. CDT to the East,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. “This is very concerning related to the evening commute.”
Porter said people should react immediately when a tornado warning is issued. It is important to seek shelter in the lowest, most interiors room possible and try and avoid rooms with windows and doors.
Tornado Watch: This means you are "watching" for something to happen. Usually issued a few hours before tornadic storms could hit a broad area. A watch is used to alert the public of a developing threat for tornadoes where conditions exist for creating tornadoes, but one has not necessarily formed yet. When under a watch, it is important to be prepared and remain vigilant.
Tornado Warning: This means forecasters are "warning" you to take action and seek shelter immediately. It is more urgent than a tornado watch.
Warnings are issued minutes before a tornado strikes a highly localized area. A tornado is imminent or has been detected on radar.
A simple way to remember the difference between both is by using the taco analogy. A watch means the ingredients to make tacos are there, but the taco has not been made yet. A warning means the tacos have been made and are ready right now, eating them is coming very soon.
The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has upgraded its outlook for Friday’s severe weather to a “moderate” level. Out of the five severe weather outlooks the SPC issues, the moderate risk is a level four, which means long-lived severe storms are likely within the newly defined area. Damaging winds, flooding downpours, very large hail and several tornadoes are expected Monday afternoon into Monday evening from eastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma to southwestern Arkansas and northwest Louisiana. Residents should have a plan in place for when storms arrive and have their phones charged in the event that the storm creates widespread power outages. The SPC also issued a mesoscale discussion for northeastern and north-central Texas and southeastern Oklahoma. The mesoscale discussion states the potential for severe storms is expected to gradually increase into the afternoon hours and the issue of a tornado watch will be likely for areas in the outlined region.
A potent storm that will bring severe weather to the southern Plains will also pack a punch in terms of rainfall. The storm system will pull moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and any remaining moisture from Lisa and deliver it across parts of the lower Plains, Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes region. While a general 1-2 inches of rain is likely, some areas could see an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 7 inches. Aside from the flooding threat, the rainfall will be beneficial, especially for areas experiencing drought and low-water levels. Much of the Plains and Mississippi Valley are experiencing soil conditions that range from abnormally dry to long-term exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The lack of rainfall has caused the main stem of the Mississippi River and many of its tributaries such as the Ohio, Missouri and Arkansas rivers to dip to historically low levels in recent weeks. The rainfall forecast for the Mississippi River watershed could help ease the low water levels. But AccuWeather forecasters warn that this single storm will not be enough to return the water levels on the Mississippi River to normal.
From 1880 until January 2022, Dallas County has recorded a total of 107 tornadoes, only two of which occurred during the month of November, according according to the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth. Both of those tornadoes happened after sunset on Nov. 12, 1972. The first twister was recorded southeast of Cockrell Hill at 9:30 p.m., local time, with the second occurring just 20 minutes later to the southeast of Hutchins, Texas. While November is a mostly quiet month for tornadoes in Dallas, October is the third highest month for tornado reports in the county behind only April and May.
Some counties around Dallas have also experienced tornadoes during November, including an outbreak in Fort Worth that occurred in November 2020. During the outbreak, an EF2 tornado injured five people. In November 2015, Denton County recorded an EF1 tornado to the southeast of Corinth.
An atmospheric “bowling ball” rolling into the southern Plains will be the driving force behind the impending severe weather, Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer said on Friday morning during a live weather update from Oklahoma. “That’s going to bring the threat of a tornado outbreak across central, eastern Texas through central, southeastern Oklahoma through the Art-La-Tex tonight,” Timmer added.
Timmer explains all the ingredients that will be in play during the afternoon and evening hours that will lead to long-track tornadoes, gusty straight-line winds and severe thunderstorms. According to AccuWeather meteorologists, storms will start to pick up across the Interstate 35 corridor early this afternoon. “Stay safe today because a dangerous day is ahead,” Timmer said as the video came to an end.
The risk of severe weather is most commonly known to peak in the spring and summer months, but an often overlooked secondary season takes place after the pools have closed for the year. Friday's high risk of severe storms comes during a second peak in severe weather season, which occurs in October and November. Major tornado outbreaks have occurred in November recently, such as in 2015 and 2005.
“This has occurred in response to clashing air masses during the fall season,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said. “Cold air intruding southward from Canada clashes with warm and humid air in place from the tropics.”
Knowing when severe weather is approaching can be life-saving information, especially during a severe weather outbreak, like what is expected to unfold over Texas on Friday. One of the easiest ways to receive severe weather alerts, such as tornado warnings, is by having the free AccuWeather App on your smartphone. These custom alerts can provide critical time to seek shelter before damaging weather moves into the area. Watching the AccuWeather Network and monitoring AccuWeather’s website are two other ways to stay updated with the latest weather information.
AccuWeather meteorologists are most concerned about an area along the Interstate 35 corridor from San Antonio to Austin and Dallas and into southwestern Arkansas where volatile storms and severe weather could occur on Friday afternoon into Friday night. Forecasters are urging people who live in this area to be weather aware heading into the afternoon on Friday, especially those who will be traveling during the second half of the day. Even though damaging wind gusts are the main threat, hail and a few tornadoes could occur. Intense downpours could lead to flash flooding, especially in poor-drainage areas and along “Flash Flood Alley,” which a geographic region that tracks through many of Texas’ major metropolitan areas.
Severe thunderstorms and other weather disturbances forecast across the southern Plains Friday will likely continue well into the evening hours. Nocturnal tornadoes can be more dangerous than twisters that happen in the daylight. “Nocturnal storm events often come as more of a surprise to people simply because they may not be as in touch with the environment around them as they are during the day, or they may be asleep,” emergency preparedness specialist Becky DePodwin said. “That’s why it’s so important to ensure you will be [woken] up by weather warnings issued for your location and to know the appropriate action when a warning is issued.” Residents across the southern U.S. should have a plan in place before going to bed, including locating a safe place in their house to take shelter when a storm is approaching. One of the easiest ways to receive emergency weather notifications, including tornado warnings, is to download the free AccuWeather app on a smartphone.
On Wednesday, Texans started to prepare for the severe weather that AccuWeather forecasters have been warning about since late last week. AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Bernie Rayno is telling families to prepare for the possibility of flash flooding, hail and isolated tornadoes. AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell reports that people in in Lubbock, Texas, a town just south of Amarillo, quickly put away their Halloween decorations ahead of Friday’s storms. As the wind races across the relatively flat landscape of Lubbock, trees, which are still covered in leaves and power lines could get knocked down. While the rain will be a welcomed sigh in Lubbock, which is suffering from an extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, too much rain could lead to flash flooding. Elsewhere in Texas, some high school football games scheduled for Friday have been rescheduled in anticipation of the storms, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported.
AccuWeather's Bill Wadell reported live from Lubbock on Nov. 2, where people are hoping for badly needed rain but bracing for potentially severe conditions.
With Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer in Oklahoma City, AccuWeather Meteorologist Tony Laubach is reporting for AccuWeather on the severe weather threat from Denton, Texas. “It’s going to be a myriad of severe weather we’re going to be hunting down across northeast Texas tomorrow,” Laubach told AccuWeather Prime Host Adam Del Rosso. The meteorologist will be following the severe weather threat between I-20 ad I-30 on Friday as it develops early in the afternoon. “The tornado threat [will] likely be higher with the initial storms before that squall line develops,” Laubach said. “Once that happens, we likely will let that line roll over us tomorrow night as chasing squall lines especially as we get into the nighttime hours gets a little bit dangerous, so we’re going to be paying close attention exactly when that storm transition takes place.”
AccuWeather's Tony Laubach walks you through his preparation for the severe storms that AccuWeather is expecting in Texas and surrounding areas on Nov. 4.
Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer gave an update Thursday afternoon on the forecast from Oklahoma City, which is in the northwestern edge of the severe weather threat for Friday "It is going to be the big tornado day across the Southern Plains, and there is a threat of strong to potentially violent tornadoes near the DFW metroplex through northeastern Texas," Timmer said in a Twitter video. The storms are expected to impact central and northern Texas from the afternoon to evening before moving into Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas overnight, according to Timmer.
AccuWeather's Jon Porter explains the weather factors that are combining to create prime conditions for severe thunderstorms and the potential for tornadoes in the Plains.
Communities from Dallas-Fort Worth down to Austin will be in the “big-risk area” on Friday as an “amplifying and intensifying” storm system charges through the Southern Plains, according to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter. Moisture-laden air from the Gulf of Mexico has driven up dew points, or the amount of moisture in the air, into the low- to mid-70s across the Texas Gulf Coast. As that moisture is drawn to the north and west, it will clash with the storm system moving in from the west, creating some of the ingredients for the severe weather risk, according to Porter.
This storm will include a wide array of severe weather risks as well from hail to tornadoes.
“This is a very potent storm system that we tend to get as we head into the fall now that the jet stream dips a little bit farther to the south, and this is one of those classic storm systems where we’re going to be seeing the risk for severe thunderstorms, large hail, damaging winds and yes some tornadoes as well,” Porter said.
He added that individual thunderstorms Friday afternoon could carry their own tornado threat before congealing into a line of thunderstorms and racing across Texas into southeastern Oklahoma, western Arkansas and western Louisiana.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requested the activation of state emergency response resources Thursday evening ahead of the severe weather threat that will charge through the state into Friday. The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) activated the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, which includes boat squads and search and rescue resources. Other resources on standby include saw crews, boat teams, power outage monitoring and emergency medical services.
“State and local emergency response partners are monitoring weather conditions and are on standby to swiftly provide all necessary resources to protect our communities,” Abbott said in a press release Thursday evening. “Texans are urged to remain weather-aware and follow instructions from emergency responders and local officials to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.”
AccuWeather forecasters highlighted an area from northeast Texas to Austin that will see a high risk for severe weather on Friday. The change came after forecasters determined that some of the tornadoes could be “particularly strong,” according to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter.
"Damaging winds are the main threat although hail and a few tornadoes can occur," AccuWeather Director of Forecasting Operations Dan DePodwin stated.
He also added that the worst weather for the Interstate 35 corridor from San Antonio to Austin, Dallas and Oklahoma City could occur during rush hour Friday afternoon and evening, posing an elevated risk for those traveling. The severe weather is expected to last into the nighttime hours.
Powerful thunderstorms are starting to develop over the southern Plains, the start of a multi-day severe weather outbreak over the region. AccuWeather Broadcast Meteorologist Kristina Shalhoup explained that a big upper-level low will be shifting over the south-central U.S. through Saturday with “a lot of energy” that will produce severe storms.
“You’re gonna want to stay weather aware [and] have multiple ways to get watches and warnings on your phone,” Shalhoup added.
The highest severe weather risk through Thursday night is forecast to focus on a zone from south-central Kansas to northwestern Oklahoma with wind being the primary risk. Friday will bring the highest risk of damaging thunderstorms with wind once again being the primary concern as gusts could reach an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 80 mph. This includes some of the most populated areas of Texas, including Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.
After severe thunderstorms target areas from Texas to Nebraska on Thursday, more people will be impacted by Friday’s storms outside of the traditional Tornado Alley. The risk of severe weather on Friday is expected to shift southeastward, spanning from southwest Texas and through Louisiana and Arkansas. Mississippi and Missouri will also see some risk of severe weather. An AccuWeather analysis, as well as other research, showed the area of the most common tornado occurrence, aka Tornado Alley, has moved from the Plains to the Southeast and parts of the lower Mississippi River Valley over the last few decades.
“Smells like Tornado Alley,” Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer tweeted on Thursday from Oklahoma, where he will be storm chasing. The severe weather threat will be present across the western part of Oklahoma on Thursday and will shift to the southeastern portion of the state on Friday.
The risk of severe weather will span from southern Texas to southern Kansas and Missouri Friday afternoon into Friday night, putting more than 36 million at risk. The greatest concern for where volatile storms could occur is along the Interstate 35 corridor from San Antonio to Austin, Dallas and Oklahoma City. The worst weather in this corridor will occur during the Friday afternoon and evening rush hour, which could pose a significant threat to those traveling during that time, AccuWeather Director of Forecasting Operations Dan DePodwin said. Those who have scheduled flights in or out of Texas on Friday could also be impacted by the severe weather. Southwest Airlines is anticipating disruptions to service in Texas due to the forecasted weather and cautioned that any travelers should check their flight status and explore rebooking options.
The severe weather season may seem like a distant memory by the time November rolls around, but severe weather is still a threat even into the fall and winter months. According to data compiled from the SPC, the majority of tornadoes occur during the spring and summer months. On average, November is the month with the fewest tornado reports across the country, but that does not mean that people should let their guard down. As the Northern Hemisphere starts to cool down during the fall and early winter months, clashing air masses can create severe weather outbreaks across the southern Plains and into the Midwest. Unlike the spring severe season, a secondary severe weather peak in the fall doesn’t have exact dates, making it lesser-known. AccuWeather forecasters warn that tornadoes can occur at any time of the year or day and urges people to always have a way to receive weather warnings and plan of action in place if needed.
Track these severe weather conditions and more with the AccuWeather app. For next-level safety, unlock AccuWeather Alerts™ with Premium+. These advanced, hyperlocal notifications are prompted by our expert meteorologists and are often delivered much further ahead of government warnings when possible.
