Thunderstorms drop large hail over Texas with threat of storms to continue into weekend
Damaging wind gusts, heavy rain and hail were the main threats from storms that impacted Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma on Friday.
Severe storms target southeast this weekend
The southeast is bracing for severe weather that could bring heavy rain, damaging winds, and large hail.
A potent cold front on a cross-country journey moved through the Southern Plains on Friday, causing showers and thunderstorms for large parts of the country.
Severe Thunderstorm Watches were issued for more than 12 million residents from Oklahoma and Arkansas through most of Texas, and the Storm Prediction Center warned of large hail that could be upwards of 2 inches in diameter and damaging wind gusts.
The severe storms delivered ping-pong- to golf-ball-size hail in the rural town of Rochelle, Texas, on Friday afternoon.
The report was one of more than two dozen witness accounts of severe weather that stretched across four states.
Half-dollar-sized hail falls in Rochelle, Texas
Storm chasers captured this severe warned storms in Texas producing half-dollar sized hail in Rochelle, Texas.
The largest hailstone reported to the SPC took place outside of Dallas in Collin County, Texas. According to the storm report, the hail measured 2.5 inches wide, which is about the size of a tennis ball.
As of Friday evening, more than 11,000 electric outages were reported in Texas by PowerOutage.us.
![Rochelle hail on Friday]()
Image 1 of 3Rochelle, Texas saw hail on Friday afternoon. (Brianna Salazar)
![Texas hailstone]()
Image 2 of 3Allen, Texas hailstone (@wxroman/Twitter)
![Texas lightning strike]()
Image 3 of 3Lightning strike over Cherokee, Texas on 5/19/2023 (WKU Meteorology Program)
In the 24 hours that preceded impacts to the southern Plains, the front helped kick off a landspout in Albany County, Wyoming, which triggered a Tornado Warning.
Landspout tornado spotted in rural Wyoming
A landspout tornado was spotted just to the northeast of Laramie, WY during a tornado-warned storm.
No damage was reported from the event, but the sight drew the attention of residents west of Cheyenne.
That front, along with an area of high pressure in the Atlantic Ocean, will help to steer a developing coastal storm up the East Coast that will ruin beach plans for millions of people along the Interstate 95 corridor over the weekend.