Tornadoes, Egg-Sized Hail Possible Today, Tonight in East Texas

Severe weather in the South during the months of March, April, and May is nothing out of the ordinary. Here we are just a couple of days into March and mother nature is not waiting.

Multiple Rounds of Severe Weather

Forecasters are warning residents of northeast Texas and much of the Pineywoods to be alert for damaging straight-line winds (gusts to 80 mph), egg-sized hail, and tornadoes, some of those tornadoes may be EF2 strength (111 mph) or stronger.

The first round of severe weather is expected to start popping off across portions of East Texas from about midday through sunset. We have a 40% of storms during daytime hours today, but some of those scattered thunderstorms could reach severe levels and produce tornadoes.

Later tonight, probably between 9 pm and midnight, a solid line of intense thunderstorms is expected to steamroll through Deep East Texas. These could also produce damaging winds, large hail, and embedded tornadoes.

Let's Talk About the Tornadoes

Early Thursday morning, the Storm Prediction Center released its latest guidance on what East Texas can expect when it comes to tornadoes.

Anyone living in that area indicated with the diagonal slashes has a 1 in 10 chance of being within 25 miles of an EF2 (111+ mph) or stronger tornado. The EF scale designates the wind speeds of tornadoes, starting at EF0 and ranging up to EF5.

Lufkin and Nacogdoches ARE included in that 'hatched' section of the map. Even though the ArkLaTex has a greater chance of experiencing more widespread severe storms, Deep East Texas remains in the target zone for high-end threats.

High-End Threats

Portions of East Texas are also at risk of damaging winds and large hail. The hatched area in the first map below means those residents have a 10% chance of being within 25 miles of 2-inch or larger hailstones.

The hatched area of the second map indicates those residents which have a 1 in 10 chance of being within 25 miles of thunderstorm-related wind gusts of 74 mph or higher.

Here's a report on what hail that size can do.

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