DALLAS, April 28, 2026, 14:22 CDT
- North Texas, covering Dallas-Fort Worth, spent Tuesday facing a Level 4 out of 5 severe storm risk, with Dallas County under a tornado watch set to last until 9 p.m. CDT.
- Forecasters are warning of the potential for very large to giant hail, damaging winds, and a few tornadoes as storms intensify into the evening.
- Just days after deadly storms left at least two people dead and tore through homes in Wise and Parker counties northwest of Fort Worth, the threat has resurfaced.
Federal forecasters bumped up sections of North Texas—Dallas-Fort Worth among them—to a Moderate Risk for severe storms on Tuesday, placing Dallas County and much of the region under a tornado watch until 9 p.m. CDT. The bigger threat is hail, big enough to smash windows and dent roofs or vehicles.
It’s a tough window. According to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, storms are likely to develop near the Red River until around 5 p.m., then sweep along the I-20 corridor from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. After that, they’re set to reach southern Central Texas counties by about 1 a.m.
The Metroplex lands squarely in the risk area during the late-day rush, just as schools let out and highways fill up. A watch signals that tornadoes and severe storms could form—different from a warning, which means a storm is underway or about to hit.
The Storm Prediction Center is warning about “very large to giant hail,” with stones possibly ranging from 2 inches to over 4 inches wide, plus a risk for damaging winds and some tornadoes. Forecasters Guyer and Chalmers at SPC noted the chance for intense supercells—those rotating storms infamous for producing the biggest hail—mainly in the afternoon and early evening hours across North Texas. Storm Prediction Center
“We’re still looking at a very active afternoon and evening,” National Weather Service Fort Worth forecaster Sanchez said in an early afternoon update. According to the office, instability held across North Texas’s warm sector, with a cold front stalled near the Red River and a dryline—separating dry and humid air—parked west of Abilene. National Weather Service
Early in the afternoon, severe thunderstorm warnings hit areas north and northwest of the Metroplex. One was posted for southern Clay County, Texas—radar flagged hail as large as tennis balls and wind gusts pushing 70 mph. The alert from officials also pointed out the potential for tornadoes to form rapidly from these storms.
The Weather Channel bumped up its threat level for northeastern Texas, calling out the Dallas-Fort Worth area and cautioning that storms packing hail as large as softballs could hit Tuesday evening. According to FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, this higher risk doesn’t guarantee more severe storms than earlier forecasts suggested, but it does highlight a greater chance of very large hail.
Another round comes after a punishing weekend in North Texas. According to The Associated Press, storms killed at least two people, forced at least 20 families from their homes, and tore through Runaway Bay and Springtown. Road access proved tough, Wise County Judge J.D. Clark said, with blocked routes and utilities down.
The weather service said an EF-2 tornado packing 135 mph winds hit near Runaway Bay, while an EF-1 tornado with winds up to 105 mph touched down close to Springtown. Preliminary details from the Fort Worth office pointed to one death linked to the Wise County twister, and another fatality in Parker County, where forceful rear-flank downdraft winds—strong gusts blasting out from thunderstorms near tornado zones—were reported.
On Tuesday, Dallas-Fort Worth was flagged with some of Texas’s most elevated severe-weather risk—though the threat stretched far beyond North Texas. Storms lined up from the southern Plains all the way to the lower Mississippi and Tennessee valleys, sweeping into the Southeast. According to the SPC, back-to-back rounds of severe weather could bring hail, damaging winds, and the occasional tornado to a broad swath of that region through the evening.
It’s not just hail in play. When storms repeatedly hit the same city spots, there’s a risk for flash flooding, especially where drainage systems fall short. More scattered, rotating storms keep the focus on hail and tornadoes instead.
Don’t count on the weather clearing up Tuesday night. According to the National Weather Service, yet another storm system is lined up for late Thursday into Friday, promising widespread showers and thunderstorms. Rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches are possible for parts of North and Central Texas before things dry out and cooler air moves in for the weekend.
