Overnight thunderstorms, hail rock parts of the Texas Hill Country
NWS hasn’t changed the forecast of a winter mix of snow and rain for Saturday, March 18, but they have a better understanding of where the affected areas may be. The southern Edwards Plateau into the western Hill Country has the biggest chance for receiving snow mixed with rain Saturday morning, according to NWS.
Original story:
Those in San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country areas should prepare to bundle up Friday morning, March 17, as the beginning of this weekend’s cold front moves in. They might also want to pack an umbrella to combat a few lingering showers after severe thunderstorms rolled through parts of the Hill Country on Thursday night, March 16, bringing heavy wind and hail.
Around 7:30 p.m., NWS reported on Twitter that storms had begun to move into parts of the Hill Country, bringing hail and strong winds of up to 60 miles per hour. Affected areas such as Pflugerville, Cedar Park, and Round Rock were placed under a severe thunderstorm warning as a result of the storms.
Thursday night’s storms moved into Serenada, Bartlett, and Granger with the issued thunderstorm warning cautioning those in the area to watch out for possible quarter-size hail and tornadoes. As storms continued to beat down on the Hill Country, NWS placed Pflugerville and Austin under a severe thunderstorm watch, which lasted until 10:15 p.m.
In addition to Pflugerville and Austin, NWS issued severe storm warnings Thursday night for the following counties and cities: Wells Branch, Lockhart, Buda, Manchaca, Bastrop, Camp Swift, Giddings, Eagle Pass, Seco Mines, Dimmit County, Maverick County, Zavala County, Crystal City, Carrizo Springs, Asherton, Dilley, Big Wells, Hilltop, Whitehouse, Noonday, Tyler, and more. As storms moved throughout these areas, hail more than double in size was possible along with a chance for tornadoes.
Residents in Tyler reported hearing tornado sirens and weather authorities told those in the area to take cover immediately.
With most of Texas safely out of the danger zone, San Antonio and the Hill Country are moving ahead into the weekend where a cold front is expected to drop temperatures in the mid-30s and low 40s on Saturday, March 18, with a few showers possibly intermixing with a little snow mainly in the Hill Country. NWS predicts cold temperatures along with isolated showers should continue into Sunday, March 19 and last through Wednesday, March 22.
