Most of North Texas under flood watch Thursday. Dallas-Fort Worth could get 4 more inches

David Montesino

More thunderstorms are expected in Dallas-Fort Worth Thursday with the worst of it to hit later in the afternoon possibly bringing more hail and damaging winds, according to the National Weather Service Fort Worth office.

“All severe hazards will be possible, with large hail being the primary threat,” Fort Worth meteorologist Matt Stalley wrote on the NWS website.

A flood watch was issued for most of North Texas Wednesday night. The advisory is in effect until Thursday evening as the possibility of as much as 4-5 inches of rain could inundate some areas already waterlogged from the storms that blew through the region earlier in the week.

“Additional flooding is likely even with modest rainfall totals as grounds remain saturated from recent exceptional rainfall,” Stalley wrote.

[RELATED: Flights canceled out of DFW Airport as tornado watch was issued.]

A Flood Watch is now in effect for much of North and Central Texas for late this morning through Thursday evening. Widespread rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches are expected within the watch area with localized 4 to 5 inch amounts possible.
A Flood Watch is now in effect for much of North and Central Texas for late this morning through Thursday evening. Widespread rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches are expected within the watch area with localized 4 to 5 inch amounts possible.
An upper level disturbance will bring a chance of storms on Thursday. Storm chances will be highest across Central Texas in the morning, then North Texas in the afternoon. Some storms may be severe, particularly for areas along and north of I-20.
An upper level disturbance will bring a chance of storms on Thursday. Storm chances will be highest across Central Texas in the morning, then North Texas in the afternoon. Some storms may be severe, particularly for areas along and north of I-20.

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Timing and placement of today’s storms are still uncertain, according to the weather service. But severe thunderstorms are expected to be worst along the I-20 corridor, peaking sometime later Thursday afternoon.

Most counties in North Texas will see 1-3 inches of rain, but some areas could see up to 5 inches. The good news is that there will be areas that may not get any rain at all, the weather service says. It has been a rather wet year so far with the weather station at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport recording 20.44 inches for the period from Jan. 1 to May 14 — placing 2024 sixth on the list of wettest year.

“Most thunderstorm activity should be winding down and exiting the area to the east during the evening with a quieter overnight period to follow,” Stalley adds.

The Fort Worth meteorologist wrote that Wednesday’s storms were much worse than what is expected to hit the region Thursday. To his point, a tornado watch was issued shortly after noon Wednesday for 36 North and Central Texas counties as two storm fronts — one from Oklahoma in the north and another in the west on a line along San Angelo — were bound to converge over the Metroplex.

The specter of the impending storms wreaked havoc with travel out of Dallas-Fort Worth Wednesday afternoon. About 1 in 4 flights was delayed as of 2:30 p.m., for a total of 258 departing aircraft because of the weather, according to FlightAware. At least 186 flights out of DFW were canceled. One traveler posted on X that passengers were waiting up to an hour for luggage because lightning was preventing ground crews from working.

As Thursday’s storms move eastward, the weekend is expected to be warm and humid.

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