... Extremely unstable airmass poised to erupt in severe thunderstorms
with large hail and damaging winds by late afternoon through this
evening...
Rich low level Gulf moisture coupled with steep lapse rates aloft
have resulted in an extremely unstable air-mass across south
central Texas early this morning. An upper level trough pushing
east over central Texas will slide a cold front into western
portions of south central Texas this afternoon. Scattered
thunderstorms will develop rapidly by late afternoon... quickly
becoming severe as the front encounters this unstable air mass.
The main threats will be from large hail and damaging thunderstorm
winds... however with the extreme instability present... isolated
tornadoes cannot be ruled out. Much of the eastern half of south
central Texas will be affected from late afternoon until the early
morning hours Wednesday. In addition... rainfall amounts may
average 1 to 3 inches within the heaviest storms producing some
localized flooding.
Heightened concern exists across the northeast corridor this
evening... including the cities of Burnet... Georgetown... Austin and
Giddings. Erosion of the capping inversion coupled with extreme
instability along the front and an increasing low level jet... may
lead to very large hail and isolated tornadoes.
The system should exit the region overnight tonight... early
Wednesday morning... with rains and severe weather ending from the
west.
Listen to NOAA Weather Radio or your local media for later updates
on this severe weather event. Also... go to weather.Gov/Austin for
the latest information... forecasts and warnings.
