Another round of rain and storms ahead of the weekend
Friday will be nice...until it isn’t
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - After a line of storms Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the majority of Friday will be just lovely. We copy and paste a line of thunderstorms to swing through just in time for your Friday evening plans. It will be another noisy evening with strong to severe storms possible along the leading edge of the line.
When we wake up Friday, it will not feel or look like a day with the potential for storms. Temperatures in the 50s will quickly warm into the mid-80s by the afternoon with a breezy south wind. The biggest tell for storm potential will be the increased muggy feeling thanks to that southerly wind. That will help feed in more moisture ahead of the next front that arrives in the evening hours. All-in-all, Friday will be a gorgeous day...until it very quickly no longer is.
STRONG/SEVERE STORMS EXPECTED 6PM - 10PM
The setup is very similar to what we saw Wednesday, with a few exceptions. The main one is that we do not see the potential for isolated storms popping up in the Brazos Valley ahead of the line. Where we expect that isolated storm activity is west of I-35, much like Wednesday, between 3 pm-5 pm. As those isolated cells approach the I-35 corridor, they will begin to clump together to form storm clusters and eventually a line. The leading edge of this line knocks on our northern counties right around the end of the workday, between 5 pm-6 pm.
Similar to Wednesday, the strongest storms will position themselves right on the edge of this line. The most significant storms will have the potential to produce a tornado, hail up to the size of a golf ball or egg, and wind gusts up to 60mph. The Storm Prediction Center, as of Thursday evening, has the majority of the area outlined in a 2 out of 5 risk for scattered severe storm development, with a 1 out of 5 just grabbing the most eastern reaches of the Brazos Valley.
When we dig into that risk, the agency is able to break it down by hazard type.
TORNADO: They have the northern portions of Milam, Robertson, and Leon counties included in a 5% chance of seeing of a tornado with any stronger storm that happens to roll through. The majority of the Brazos Valley from Austin County up towards Houston County is included in a lower potential for possible tornadoes, but any more significant storm that spins up will need to be monitored.
HAIL & WIND: Hail and wind remain to be the largest concern, a more significant hail threat is off just to the northwest of the area, with the chance for 2″ hail or larger just reaching into Milam County. Wind gusts anywhere from 40-70mph will be most likely along the line.
Once the initial line passes, the severe threat will start to diminish as these storms become outflow dominant and driven by cooler winds. Also similar to Wednesday night, that does not mean the rain and thunderstorms are over. Elevated thunderstorms will trail behind the line, making it more difficult to get out and enjoy any evening plans as lightning could hinder, delay, or even prevent those that are outdoors.
Long story short, Friday will be nice until the evening hours and that’s when we need to keep our eyes on the sky. The most useful tool will be the PinPoint Weather App, if any rowdy storms pop up in your backyard it will alert you. If you don’t have it, you can download it here!
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