Chances for severe weather are expected across North Texas to close out March.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Fort Worth is maintaining its prediction of “active weather” across the metroplex for March 31.
A chance of storms is expected to persist across the region, but the greatest threat of inclement weather is anticipated to remain in the eastern portion of the overall forecast area.
The likelihood of severe weather will taper off as the storm tracks eastward, which is expected to be impacted by more powerful storms.
Patricia Sanchez with the NWS in Fort Worth told The Dallas Express that these storms should move quickly through the region and leave between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
“If the front slows down, we might see the front move further west of what we are seeing right now, but the best potential [for storms] looks like east of the I-35 corridor,” said Sanchez.
The storms are part of the same weather system expected to bring strong and severe thunderstorms across a large portion of the United States from Mississippi to Illinois, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Sanchez described this new system as different from previous waves of thunderstorm activity, as the storms are expected to develop above the region rather than before entry.
“At this point, the line is kind of developing over our area. It’s not like those situations where we can see the line of storms moving from west of us and over our area and east like we saw last week,” said Sanchez.
The NWS in Jackson, Mississippi, has already begun to warn residents of incoming severe weather. The agency predicts greater chances of severe weather for the northern portion of the state, and these areas are more likely to endure damaging winds, hail, and tornados.
An EF-4-rated tornado recently impacted the state, leaving 25 people dead in its wake, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Until the storm arrives, there is an elevated risk of fire for areas west of the metroplex during the afternoon hours of March 31. The danger is due to dry, windy weather and dust pushing into the region. Sanchez also told The Dallas Express that some areas might miss rainfall entirely.
Weather across the region is expected to clear for the weekend. The NWS predicts “nice” weather across the metroplex, with clear skies and highs in the 70s throughout the day on April 1 and temperatures in the 50s in the evening and overnight hours.
April 2 may see storms return to the region. If the metroplex does experience storms, they may bring hail and damaging winds.