As much of Texas continues to recover from deadly tornadoes over the weekend, forecasters said another wave of severe storms was due to hit the state on Tuesday, bringing heavy rain, strong winds and very large hail.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch for parts of Texas until 11 a.m. local time, and forecasters warned of strong to severe thunderstorms developing later in the afternoon that could cause significant damage with wind gusts of up to 75 mph and could produce lime-sized hail in parts of the state.
Severe weather is likely across Central Texas, with moderate risk predicted for the melon-shaped area that includes Abilene, Waco, Austin and Midland. Amarillo, Dallas and San Antonio are also at risk, but to a lesser extent.
National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Chenard said people in the Southern Plains, especially in Texas, will likely continue to experience the severe weather typically seen in the final weeks of spring. Still, he said, “it's not unusual to have severe weather this time of year.”
The forecast comes on the heels of severe weather that battered much of the country over the holiday weekend, with storms and tornadoes that killed at least 23 people from Texas to Virginia and left hundreds of thousands without power, while heavy rain and strong winds disrupted holiday travel plans from the Midwest to the East Coast.
Texas has seen particularly bad weather this spring, with heavy rains flooding parts of the state just a few weeks ago.
Outside of Texas, a lull is expected in Kentucky over the next few days as National Guard and forestry crews continue to work to clear trees and dangerous debris from powerful storms that killed four people over the weekend. The National Weather Service in Louisville said mostly dry weather is expected over the next few days, with no rain expected through the weekend.
Severe storms are possible across central Oklahoma on Tuesday, moving southward from early morning into the afternoon, according to the weather service. Severe storms with large hail could be expected in southern Oklahoma. Not so intense By early Tuesday morning, the rain had subsided, but golf-ball-sized hail and wind gusts up to 60 mph were still possible later in the day. Severe storms over the weekend left two people dead north of Tulsa.
After a wet, windy and chaotic Memorial Day in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, sunny, summer-like weather is expected to return by Tuesday morning with highs in the low to mid 80s Fahrenheit.
More than 7,000 flights were delayed and nearly 500 canceled to and from the U.S. on Tuesday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. More than 2.9 million flights were canceled on Friday. Inspected at a US airportAccording to the Transportation Security Administration, this is a single-day record.
Ernesto Londoño and Jenny Gross Contributed report.