Texas saw a temporary reprieve from severe storms on Thursday as tornadoes and hail impacted Georgia and Florida but the FOX Forecast Center warns severe weather will return to the Lone Star State to end the week.
On Wednesday, the severe storms produced at least one waterspout off of Panama City Beach, Florida.
Beachgoers took video of the spout as it worked close to the shoreline.
A Tornado Warning was issued counties in the Panhandle, but the local National Weather Service has not confirmed whether a tornado actually touched down in the popular beach area.
Further east in Hosford, Florida, doppler radar indicated a tornado touched down, which snapped trees, damaged power lines and damaged homes.
The town is less than an hour’s drive outside of Tallahassee, and PowerOutage.us reported nearly 80 percent of Liberty County was without electricity.
Photos from the area show blocked roadways and several homes were substantially damaged during the storm.
The local sheriff’s department reported widespread damage in the rural county, and damage assessments were underway.
“It has been confirmed that a tornado has hit the Hosford area. All students at Hosford school are accounted for and safe. There is a large amount of debris and power lines down in the area. Please stay off the roads as emergency teams work to manage this situation,” the Liberty County Sheriff’s Department stated.
Talquin Electric Cooperative, the area’s main utility provider, said it was actively working to restore power but did not provide an estimated completition date.
As the storms pushed into the eastern part of the state, the weather caused SpaceX to scrub a planned Falcon Heavy launch of a satellite from Cape Canaveral. NASA encouraged visitors and employees to seek shelter until the severe weather moved offshore.
Severe weather threat increases in storm-weary Texas on Friday
The highest threat of severe storms is expected across parts of Texas on Friday, in addition to a more isolated risk of severe thunderstorms along the Southeast coast from Florida to the Carolinas.
The FOX Forecast Center said scattered severe storms are likely to produce damaging hail from late afternoon through the evening from north-central Texas to the middle and lower Rio Grande Valley. Cities in the bull’s-eye of the severe weather threat include Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Waco.
Isolated strong to severe storms may also occur along parts of the Southeast coast. Cities like Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville in Florida, Charleston in South Carolina and Raleigh in North Carolina will all be at risk of seeing severe weather on Friday.
Severe storms possible along Gulf Coast this weekend
A low-end risk of severe storms is possible from late Saturday into Sunday morning across portions of the central and eastern Gulf Coast states. This includes areas from southeastern Louisiana to northern Florida.
Damaging wind gusts and large hail are expected to be the primary threats, but an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out.