Threat of storms hangs over big weekend in Tarrant County
April 7,2015
The threat of severe weather forced the Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival to close a day early last year. BRANDON WADE STAR-TELEGRAM ARCHIVES
Reposted from Star-Telegram
Spring is kicking into full swing this week with the Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival, the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway and the Texas Rangers home opener in Arlington.
The potential for severe storms may also be on the horizon.
While the thunderstorms aren’t expected to be widespread, those that do develop will likely be severe.
The best chances for storms will be late Thursday afternoon as a cold front passes through the area — just in time for the opening of the art festival in downtown Fort Worth.
The greatest threat will be large hail and damaging winds.
“Certainly late on Thursday afternoon and evening, people need to keep an eye on the sky to make sure nothing nasty is headed in your direction,” said National Weather Service spokesman Dennis Cavanaugh.
Thursday is the first day of the Main Street Arts Festival in downtown Fort Worth, where organizers have had plenty of experience with severe weather through the years. The festival begins at 10 a.m.
“If it’s rain, the festival keeps going,” said Main Street spokeswoman Claire Bloxom Armstrong. “If it’s lightning, the festival will temporarily close.”
Festival officials coordinate with the City of Fort Worth and watch weather conditions throughout the festival, which runs through Sunday. If there are severe storms, the festival can also temporarily accommodate visitors in Sundance Square venues until conditions improve.
“Rain is not really a concern for us,” Bloxom Armstrong said. “We just don’t want a hail storm or a wind storm. We can handle the rain.”
The threat of severe weather forced the cancellation of the final day of the festival last year.
There’s a slight chance that severe storms could develop late Tuesday, but most of that activity should remain west or northwest of Fort Worth as a dry line moves closer. Rain chances will increase Wednesday afternoon and into the evening.
“The dry line to our west should become more active tomorrow afternoon with storms moving east into our area late in the evening,” WFAA meteorologist Greg Fields said in an email. “Again large hail and damaging winds will be the main concerns.”
Thursday is when the conditions will be ripe for the worst of it.
Besides Main St., events are scheduled at Texas Motor Speedway, Thursday and continuing through Saturday. The main events are the NXS O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at 7:30 p.m. Friday and the Duck Commander 500 at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
For now, Friday’s home opener for the Texas Rangers looks to be in pretty good shape with only a slight chance of storms.
But rain chances increase on Saturday and Sunday as the cold front is expected to move back to the north, setting off a new round of storms.
Bill Hanna, 817-390-7698
Twitter: @fwhanna