FORT SMITH, Ark. – Parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma and North Texas, including the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, are under threat of severe thunderstorms that could bring large hail, damaging wind gusts and even tornadoes beginning Tuesday afternoon and lasting through the overnight hours.
The intensity of these storms will be somewhat dependent on the strength of severe storms moving through Kansas and Oklahoma Tuesday morning. If these morning storms are weaker, more energy will be available in the atmosphere for thunderstorms in the afternoon to deliver large hail or form supercells that would yield tornadoes.
Tuesday’s severe weather threat extends across the southern Plains and eventually into parts of the Mississippi and Tennessee valleys and also carries the potential for flash flooding.
Be sure to download the FOX Weather app for the latest information on these storms.
This comes just as fall begins, which is typically associated with an uptick in severe weather for the central U.S. Storms on Sunday pelted the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with hail and partially collapsed the roof of a Walmart distribution center.
FALL IS THE SECOND SEVERE WEATHER SEASON
Tuesday’s threat is being caused by an area of low pressure moving underneath a dip in the jet stream in the lower levels of the atmosphere.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, thunderstorms will fire along a cold front covering eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas by Tuesday afternoon. These storms could have the potential to develop into supercells capable of producing large hail and damaging wind gusts.
(FOX Weather)
NOAA‘s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has issued a Level 2 out of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms for parts of North Texas, eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas, including Fort Smith and Little Rock.
A Level 1 out of 5 risk includes Dallas on the southwestern edge of the threat and as far east as Nashville, Tennessee.
(FOX Weather)
Some 2.1 million people are at risk of seeing hail larger than 2 inches in diameter. The threat covers western Oklahoma, including Tulsa, and western Arkansas, including Fayetteville and Fort Smith.
This area also faces the greatest risk of tornadoes Tuesday, according to the SPC.
(FOX Weather)
Thunderstorms are possible through the overnight hours and into Wednesday.
The repeated rounds of storms will also bring the potential for flash flooding. Some 3-5 inches of rain is possible from Oklahoma to East Tennessee through Thursday, with some localized pockets of 5-8 inches possible.
Flood Watches cover more than 5 million people living across portions of eastern Kansas through Oklahoma, southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas through Wednesday.
