Thunderstorms late Friday could bring severe winds, hail, and tornadoes

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A line of severe thunderstorms could race through Southeast Texas late Friday as a powerful Pacific storm moves into the Plains.

Winds Friday will increase as the storm system moves out of the Rockies, and this will keep our low temperatures nearly 20 degrees warmer than average. Instead of morning temperatures in the mid 50s, they’ll be in the low 70s.

While we expect the main line of thunderstorms to hold off until well after sunset, there is a round of showers and thunderstorms possible during the middle of the day that we’ll have to keep a watchful eye on. If any of these showers blossom into full blown thunderstorms, they will likely rotate and could produce tornadoes. Once that wave of showers passes in the early afternoon, our attention will turn west to the Hill Country where a line of storms will erupt along a cool front.

This line of thunderstorms will pack a punch Friday evening, but it won’t be severe everywhere. The chance you’ll get rain is at 90%, but there’s only about a 15-30% chance you’ll be near a severe thunderstorm. Where the line turns severe, damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph will be the greatest threat with isolated tornadoes and quarter-size hail also possible. If any thunderstorms manage to develop ahead of the main line, they will likely rotate and come with a higher tornado threat. The main line will push through Houston closer to midnight and clear the coast by 3 a.m. Saturday.

How much rain can we expect?

Most will pick up an inch or less, but 2-3″ are possible where the most intense thunderstorms track.

When will the rain clear out?

Just about all the rain should be long gone by sunrise Saturday.

Then how is the weekend shaping up?

Our weekend looks beautiful! Saturday should be stunning once the clouds clear. Temperatures will start in the 50s and warm into the 70s, perfect temperatures to host the World Series! Similar temperature are expected Sunday, but the moisture will quickly return to bring back a small chance for isolated showers.

When does the time change occur?

That occurs in the early morning hours of Sunday, at precisely 2 a.m. to be exact. After that happens, expect the sun to rise a little after 6:30 a.m. and set right around 5:30 p.m.

What’s happening in the tropics?

Lisa is drenching Mexico and Martin is no longer tropical. Another tropical system could develop east of the Bahamas early next week. For the very latest, check out our daily tropical update.