Heavy rains, damaging winds up to 60 mph, lightning, quarter-sized hail and an isolated tornado are all possible for the Austin area on Friday as a cold front moving in could bring storms, according to the National Weather Service.
A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for parts of Central Texas until 10 p.m., including in Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties.
The Austin Independent School District has canceled all after school activities today, including athletics and after-school care.
“Heavy rainfall could lead to flooding and flash flooding,” NWS Meteorologist Chris Morris said. “When there are flooded roads, don’t risk it. It’s better to be a little late getting to your destination than risking your life or the life of a first responder coming out to get you in flood waters.”
To put it simply: Turn around, don't drown. Water depth is not easy to judge on flooded roads.
Morris is urging folks to have multiple ways of getting weather updates. Here are a few ways to stay informed:
- Follow the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the latest weather updates.
- Follow Austin Emergency Management on Facebook or X for local notifications and tips.
- Go to WARN Central Texas to sign up for emergency alerts.
- Visit Austin Energy’s website to report a power outage or see a map of current outages. If you're a customer of another energy provider, Bluebonnet Electric Co-op, Pedernales Electric Co-op and Oncor have their own outage maps.
- KUT also has a list of useful accounts on X that post about local weather.
Here are other places you can monitor any flooding and potential impacts:
- Lower Colorado River Authority's HydroMet monitoring system: The website allows you to check rainfall totals for the area in near real time. You can also look at lake levels, streamflow and river stage.
- ATXFloods.com: Flooding can make low-lying roads dangerous to drive on. You can look at which roads in Central Texas are closed due to flooding here.
