Tornado Warnings Canceled; Line of Storms Pushes East

Severe thunderstorms brought hail, strong winds, and reports of damaging tornadoes into North Texas Monday afternoon.

Officials reported a damaged high school in Jacksboro and collapsed structures in nearby Bowie from confirmed tornadoes. The strength of the tornadoes is not yet known. It's also not immediately clear if anyone was injured.

Tornado warnings were issued Monday night for portions of Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties. Tarrant was canceled at 6:29 p.m.; Dallas was canceled at 6:39 p.m. and warnings in Denton and Collin counties were canceled at 6:52 p.m.

• A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for a large area west of the Metroplex until 9 p.m.
• A Tornado Watch has been issued for much of North Texas until 10 p.m.
• Some school districts are canceling after-school activities due to the weather. See the updated list here.

NBC 5 Chief Meteorologist Rick Mitchell said he expects the storm to move out of the area in the early evening and to be totally gone by 11 p.m. Rain totals are likely to be in the 1-2 inch range.

"If severe weather approaches you, seek shelter on the lowest level of the structure you are in," Mitchell said. "Put as many walls in between you and the outside as possible. An interior room such as a bathroom or closet is good. Be prepared, not scared."

NBC 5 Meteorologist Grant Johnston said earlier Monday the severe weather risk was significant as much of the DFW area was under an ENHANCED RISK (level 3 out of 5) for severe storms. Farther south and southeast, a MODERATE RISK (level 4 out of 5) includes areas around Waco, Austin, College Station, and Palestine.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS POSSIBLE IN CENTRAL TEXAS

Parts of central and east Texas, especially the Austin and College Station areas, could see hurricane-force winds of 75 mph (120 kph) or greater, along with baseball-sized hail and several tornadoes on Monday, the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, said.

The rain was expected to bring relief to some areas of Texas hit by wildfires, but windy weather was expected to follow.

On Tuesday, areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama could see "a regional severe weather outbreak," the Storm Prediction Center said. That area, including the cities of Baton Rouge and Jackson, Mississippi, could see strong tornadoes Tuesday, forecasters said.

Federal and state authorities in Louisiana reminded thousands of hurricane survivors living in government-provided mobile homes and recreational vehicle trailers to have an evacuation plan because the structures might not withstand the expected weather.

More than 8,000 households are living in such temporary quarters, Bob Howard, spokesman for a joint information center for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said Monday.

In a joint statement, the agencies said floods may cause the most damage.

"Repeated bouts of heavy rainfall can occur over the same areas, increasing the risk for flooding," the statement said. "Move to higher ground if you hear of flood warnings."

Nearly 1,800 households in trailers provided directly by FEMA are unable to return yet to homes damaged or destroyed by hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020, according to a news release last week. Another 1,600 trailers were deployed for Hurricane Ida's displaced households, Howard said, and Louisiana has set out more than 4,400 RV trailers for Ida's victims under a test program paid for by FEMA.

Anyone living in state or FEMA temporary housing needs to keep cellphones on and fully charged, with the volume high and severe weather alerts enabled, the agencies said.

"The danger is expected to be highest at night," they added.

And, the release noted, the mobile homes and RV trailers are government property that cannot be moved.