Much of Texas is bracing for another round of powerful storms that could bring strong rain, strong winds and very large hail on Tuesday, forecasters said, just as the region recovered from deadly tornadoes this weekend.
The National Weather Service has a watching heavy thunderstorm for parts of Texas until 11 a.m. local time. Forecasters also warned of strong to severe thunderstorms starting in the late afternoon the chance of significant damaging windswith gusts of up to 75 miles per hour, and could bring hail the size of limes in parts of the state.
Severe weather chances are higher for Central Texas, with forecasts of moderate risks stretching across a melon-shaped area including Abilene, Waco, Austin and Midland. Amarillo, Dallas and San Antonio are also at risk, albeit to a lesser extent.
Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said people in the Southern Plains, especially in Texas, will likely continue to experience severe conditions that often occur during the final weeks of spring, he said. Still, “having severe weather at this time of year is not abnormal,” he said.
The prediction comes on the heels of heavy weather which extended over a large part of the country during the holiday weekend. Storms and tornadoes killed at least 23 people from Texas to Virginia and left hundreds of thousands without power; heavy rains and damaging winds disrupted holiday travel plans from the Midwest to the East Coast.
Texas has had particularly bad weather conditions this spring, with heavy rains flooding parts of the state just weeks ago.
Outside of Texas, Kentucky is expected to get a reprieve in the coming days as National Guard and forestry workers continue to clear fallen trees and dangerous debris from powerful storms that killed four people this weekend. This was announced by the National Weather Service in Louisville Mostly dry weather was expected over the next few days, with no rain in the forecast until the weekend.
Severe storms are possible in central Oklahoma on Tuesday, starting early in the morning and shifting southward in the afternoon. the agency said. Severe storms with large hail had developed in southern Oklahoma less intense by early Tuesday morning. Still, hail the size of golf balls and damaging winds of up to 60 mph were possible later in the day. Two people were killed north of Tulsa this weekend when severe storms rolled in.
After a wet, windy and disruptive Memorial Day in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, sunny, summer conditions are expected to return Tuesday morning with highs in the low to mid 80s.
There were more than 7,000 flight delays in or out of the United States on Tuesday, and nearly 500 cancellations. according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website. More than 2.9 million people came by on Friday were shown at US airportsaccording to the Transportation Security Administration – a single-day record.
Ernesto Londono And Jenny Gross reporting contributed.