A Severe Thunderstorm WATCH has been issued for parts of north Texas until 8pm this evening.  Current radar trends have a line of strong storms tracking east/southeast along the Red River Counties this afternoon and into the northern portions of the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex late this evening.  Cities covered by this current Watch…Henrietta, Wichita Falls, Vernon, Seymour, Munday, Olney, Archer City and surrounding communities.  Note: The DFW metro is NOT covered under this current watch.  Large hail up to 2.5 inches and damaging winds in excess of 70mph are possible as this line of storms tracks east across the area this afternoon as we get into peak daytime heating.  Isolated tornadoes are also a threat.  Folks in this region will need to keep an eye on the weather once again this afternoon and be prepared to seek shelter if warnings are issued.

NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK

110 PM CDT THU MAY 7 2015

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

  SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL OKLAHOMA

  WESTERN NORTH TEXAS

* EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 110 PM UNTIL

  800 PM CDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE…

  SCATTERED LARGE HAIL LIKELY WITH ISOLATED VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS

    TO 2.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE

  SCATTERED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

  A TORNADO OR TWO POSSIBLE

SUMMARY…STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWEST OK AND

WESTERN NORTH TX WILL BUILD EAST/NORTHEASTWARD TODAY ACROSS THE

WATCH AREA.  STRONG INSTABILITY SUPPORTS A RISK OF LARGE HAIL AND

DAMAGING WINDS.  AN ISOLATED TORNADO IS ALSO POSSIBLE OVER THE

SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE WATCH.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 50

STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES SOUTHWEST OF

WICHITA FALLS TEXAS TO 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF OKLAHOMA CITY

OKLAHOMA.