NWS: Hail, Flooding & a Tornado Possible Late Tuesday

SAN ANGELO – A strong cold front will blow through West Central Texas Tuesday afternoon bringing the threat of large hail, flooding and a possible tornado. 

According to meteorologists with the National Weather Service office in San Angelo, a strong cold front will move though the Abilene area around mid-afternoon then San Angelo in the late afternoon then on to the Sonora area in the evening hours.  

Watch for clearing skies Tuesday morning to around noon with temperatures reaching around 90 degrees.  Isolated thunderstorms will develop first ahead of the cold front as it passes.  The storms will then develop into a line of thunderstorms and strengthen in the late afternoon and evening hours.  The later the line of thunderstorms develops, the more rain it will produce.  

The main threat Tuesday evening will be large hail and damaging winds but an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out.  Heavy rainfall could develop dropping from 1.5 to 1.8 inches in places so localized flooding is possible region wide. Rain chances will rapidly decrease after midnight with the passage of the cold front.  

There is a  50% chance of rain Tuesday afternoon increasing to 60% overnight with severe storms possible.  Once the storm system has passed, look for clear, warmer and dryer conditions for the next five days.  

The Tuesday night storms have the potential to reach severe levels quickly so look for severe thunderstorm watches and warnings and advisories about extreme weather and flooding.  

This is a serious weather situation which has the potential to become life threatening.  Stay tuned for further weather updates.