The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has downgraded the risk of severe weather in the South, but the threat of tornadoes in the Houston metro will continue through the day on Thursday.

HOUSTON – Millions of people from southeastern , including the metro area, to southwestern will be on alert for Thursday as conditions are favorable for the development of , damaging gusts and during the day and into the evening hours.

On Thursday morning, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) had placed millions of people under a Level 3 out of 5 risk of seeing severe , but after a discussion with forecasters, the decision was made to downgrade that threat to a Level 2 and shift it off to the east.

The severe thunderstorm threat on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023.

(FOX Weather)

As of Thursday afternoon, the SPC has more than 7.5 million people from southeastern Texas to southwestern Louisiana in a Level 2 out of 5 on its .

This threat includes Houston, , , and in Texas. The threat also includes and in Louisiana.

A three-hour radar loop over the Gulf Coast on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023.
(FOX Weather)

 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday said he directed the Texas Department of Emergency Management to prepare emergency resources ahead of the severe weather.

“I encourage Texans in at-risk areas to monitor weather conditions and take precautions to protect themselves and loved ones,” , formerly Twitter.

Conditions are still favorable for to develop from the middle Texas coast into southeastern Texas on Thursday afternoon and evening.

The FOX Forecast Center says those thunderstorms will have what they need to rotate, and tornadoes could quickly develop.

The tornado threat on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023.

(FOX Weather)

“We have that threat that some of these storms could be on the stronger side,” FOX Weather Meteorologist said. “We’ve been dealing with a Level 3 threat, that very likely threat, but new in from the Storm Prediction Center, this has now been downgraded to a likely threat, and it’s along a stretch of Interstate 10 from Houston all the way to Lake Charles and Lafayette.”

Tornadoes will be possible from southeastern Texas to southwestern Louisiana along the Gulf Coast. That risk for tornadoes includes the Houston area.

The large hail and damaging wind threat on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023.

Tornadoes aren’t the only threats: A wider risk of large hail and damaging wind gusts covers millions from the Gulf Coast to in the southern Plains.

In addition to Houston, other cities at risk for these severe weather events include , and in Texas, in Oklahoma and and in Louisiana.

The severe weather risk tapers off late Thursday evening into Thursday night from west to east.

Severe weather threat shifts east this weekend

The severe thunderstorm risk on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023.

(FOX Weather)

The threat of severe weather shifts east on Friday and Saturday into the heart of the Gulf Coast and into the .

So far, the SPC has placed the region at a Level 1 out of 5 on its severe thunderstorm risk scale, with damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes possible.

The risk area includes the cities of and in Louisiana, , and in and in .