Severe weather drenched North Texas on Friday as tornadoes touched down in east and Central Texas, according to the National Weather Service.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the majority of North Texas, including Dallas County, until 8 p.m. on Friday.
The watch includes the 36 counties in the Lone Star State and extends north through Oklahoma and into Arkansas.
At 4:26 p.m., the weather service announced the spotting of a “confirmed tornado” crossing Highway 82 near Brookston, Texas.
Earlier, the weather service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Dallas, Plano, Frisco, Little Elm and Prosper at about 2 p.m. The service also reported nickel-size hail in Everman County.
HAWAII’S BIG ISLAND WARNED OF POSSIBLE ‘LAVA DISASTER’ AS HUGE VOLCANO RUMBLES
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott activated the state’s emergency response resources ahead of the severe storm threat.
“The State of Texas continues readying resources to protect Texans against severe weather threats impacting our state, and we urge Texans to heed the guidance of their emergency officials to keep themselves and their loved ones safe,” Abbott said in a press release.
The storm system prompted the cancelation of hundreds of flights out of DFW International and Dallas Love Field Airport Friday evening.
The damaging winds also caused mass power outages throughout the state. PowerOutage.us reported more than 39,000 customers were in the dark after the storms rolled through.
Power outages in nearby Oklahoma topped nearly 5,000 by the late afternoon.
No deaths or injuries have been reported yet, and it is unclear the level of damage.
