A tornado watch has been issued for Austin and the surrounding area, including Travis, Williamson, Bastrop, Burnet and Hays counties. The watch stretches from Central Texas to Northeast Texas and into Louisiana and Arkansas.
The National Weather Service says the main threat from Thursday's storms is large hail and damaging winds, but a couple tornadoes are also possible in the watch area.
A "tornado watch" means tornadoes are possible in the watch area. The NWS says people in a watch area should be ready to act if a warning is issued. A "tornado warning" means a tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar, the NWS says.
The timing for potential severe storms in the Austin area is mainly before 10 p.m., the Weather Service says. This weekend, the first heat wave is expected to arrive, with high temperatures near 98 degrees.
Follow along for severe storm updates from the NWS below:
