Severe Storms Moving Into ArkLaTex Area Starting This Afternoon

According to the National Weather Service in Shreveport, the weather has the potential to get a little rough this evening.

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Residents of northwestern Louisiana, northeastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas might want to take a few extra minutes this morning for preparation of a possible damaging storm and move outdoor furniture, plants and pets to areas out of harm's way.

Forecasters for the NWS state that strong to severe thunderstorms should develop later this afternoon and will move rapidly south and east through the entire Arklatex area through the late evening hours.

While these weather professionals feel the possibility of an isolated tornado can't be ruled out, it appears that damaging wind gusts between 60 and 70 miles per hour is the primary threat. There is also a slight threat of large hail near quarter sized that could reek havoc on the area.

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As indicated in the graphic below from the National Weather Service, these storms should hit the areas of southeast Oklahoma, southwest Arkansas and northeast Texas between 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

Between 4:00 pm and 9:00 pm, residents of east Texas and north Louisiana should feel the impact of the storms and those in deep east Texas and central Louisiana can look for storms between 5:00 pm and 11:00 pm.

The current hourly forecast from The Weather Channel shows a 56% chance for scattered storms in the immediate Shreveport area around 3:00 pm this afternoon. Chances continue to increase until approximately 7:00 pm when we see a slight break in the system and then an increase to a 54% chance in the 9:00 pm hour.

It also appears we'll be in for more scattered storms in the area hitting around 5:00 am Wednesday morning and we could be in for a round of excessive rainfall on Thursday.

The National Weather Service feels we could see an initial one to two inches of rainfall from the storms today and tomorrow and then another one to two inches of excessive rainfall on Thursday.

While there has been no mention at this time for the possibility of flash flooding, that's something we should all be aware of and continue to monitor future forecasts for updates.