Forecasters expect a wind advisory for Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton counties through 8 p.m. Thursday.
Much of North Texas is under a tornado watch as of 10 p.m. On Thursday, the National Weather Service forecast the potential for damaging winds and large hail in the evening.
The tornado watch extends from the Cisco area in Fort Worth and Dallas into Northeast Texas and from Killeen north to Oklahoma.
The National Weather Service in Fort Worth predicted that the storm would hit northern Texas between 5 and 8 p.m. before moving over East Texas later on Thursday evening.
The strongest storm with sustained winds of 75 mph will pass through the metroplex between 6 p.m. More spin-up tornadoes are possible at 7 p.m., according to meteorologist Hunter Reeves.
“When it comes to lines like this, you can get intermittent circulation,” Reeves said. “So that’s kind of what we’re thinking, there are just a few embedded tornadoes in this line of storms that are moving.”
The National Weather Service expects a wind advisory for Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton counties through 8 p.m. Thursday 10 a.m. to Friday. Flooding has also been reported in Dallas County since 9 a.m. Friday.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday ordered the Texas Department of Emergency Management to raise its preparedness level to “Escalated Response” as the storm moves across the state.
Meanwhile, hundreds of flights in and out of the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been canceled or delayed amid the bad weather, with American and Southwest Airlines among the most affected.
Fort Worth, Dallas, and Cedar Hill school districts canceled all after-school activities on Thursday. The Dallas Zoo also announced it would close its doors at 3 a.m. Thursday.