thunderstorm risk grows: Big changes across South

Big stormy changes will sweep across Texas and the southern Plains tonight before heading into the South and Southeast Thursday.

The WeatherRadar shows a system moving out of the Southwest and across Texas and Oklahoma tonight. This system, interacting with some Gulf moisture streaming northward will touch off several lines of winter thunderstorms across northern Texas and Oklahoma.

The biggest threat will be gusty winds and a some hail.

Although it feels like winter across much of the U.S. and the spring storm season is still a couple months away, dangerous winter thunderstorms are possible across the southern Plains as cold arctic air interacts with warmer airmasses coming from the Gulf of Mexico.

On Thursday, the main system will move into the Great Lakes, but it will drag a cold front across the South and Southeast, bringing its own fresh batch of thunderstorms Thursday afternoon.

In addition to the storm threat, colder air will settle southward across the southern Plains. The TemperatureRadar shows highs by Friday only being in the 50s and 60s across the southern Plains.