Daisy Espinoza/Houston Public Media
Clouds hover above the downtown Houston skyline on Jan. 23, 2024.
Tornadoes can’t be ruled out as rainy, stormy weather rolls through Southeast Texas on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Houston-area residents south of The Woodlands can expect widespread storms across the community, according to a meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Houston and Galveston office. The forecast for late Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday night calls for rainfall and thunderstorms, with the potential for heavy rain that could cause localized flooding.
Closer to the Gulf Coast, areas like Galveston could be hit by stronger storms, large hail and stronger winds. Tornadoes are possible, though the chances of them occurring is lower than they were a week earlier, when two tornadoes touched down in Houston suburbs.
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“It’ll just be something to keep in the back of your mind, that it’s a nonzero possibility,” said Bradley Brokamp, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “The overall picture, though, is that rainfall does seem to be the big thing, the greater concern, as of right now. It’s mainly going to be very soggy and dreary conditions, more akin to winter here.”
RELATED: Spring-area homeowners face lengthy recovery after tornado hits their neighborhood.
On Nov. 24, two tornadoes struck the Spring and Cypress communities. More than 200 homes and buildings were damaged, 13 of which were heavily damaged, according to Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey. Recovery is still under way for that storm.
Brokamp said conditions were much more unstable ahead of those storms last week than they are on Wednesday.
Severe weather leading into the winter months is not uncommon in Texas. Last year, several tornadoes hit Southeast Texas, killing one in Brazoria County.