First Alert Weather Day: Cold front could trigger strong to severe storms Wednesday night into Thursday morning

EAST TEXAS (KLTV/KTRE) - We’ve issued a First Alert Weather Day beginning very late Wednesday night, just past midnight, into the mid-morning hours on Thursday as a cold front moves through East Texas triggering strong to severe thunderstorms on its way through our area.

A cold front could trigger strong to severe storms Wednesday night into Thursday morning.(Source: KLTV)

The atmosphere here in East Texas, as you can probably tell, is very warm and very moist at this time and will stay this way until the front moves through.

The Storm Prediction Center has placed the majority of East Texas under a Slight Risk for these storms to occur. This means that there is a 15 percent chance for significant severe weather to occur within 25 miles of any location in East Texas.

At this time, the greatest risks appear to be gusty thunderstorm winds and some pockets of large hail. We certainly can not rule out an isolated tornado or two either. Rainfall totals are expected to range from 1.00″-2.50″ across the area, so some minor flash flooding may occur in the heaviest rainfall. Once the front moves through your areas, the risk for severe weather should end rather abruptly and head eastward.

The timing of this occurrence appears to be between Midnight and 9 AM on Thursday morning. If the front speeds up a bit, it may be earlier and vice versa. We will continue to monitor this very closely for you and send out additional updates as needed.