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Tornado Watch canceled, schools delayed early Tuesday morning

Severe storms brought a possible tornado south of Jarrell and left thousands without power in Central Texas.

AUSTIN, Texas — Strong to severe storms were expected across Central Texas late Monday evening as a cold front pushed through the area. Behind the storms, strong, non-thunderstorm winds up to 50 mph were possible overnight

Ahead of our storm threat, the Storm Prediction Center outlined the "slight" – level 2 of 5 – risk for severe storms for most of the KVUE area. The main threat was damaging wind gusts, but one or two isolated tornadoes could not be ruled out.

Aftermath from the storm:

11:02 a.m.  All power has been restored to all affected Jarrell ISD campuses.

7:13 a.m. Jarrell ISD has power restored at Jarrell Elementary School and Jarrell Middle School, but school buses cannot go out to pick up students due to trees blocking the road on CR 239 near 487. Officials are working to restore internet at IPO.

7:00 a.m.  Bluebonnet has restored the remaining power outages and fixed the damaged power line affecting the members in Bastrop and Caldwell Counties.

6:46 a.m.  Austin Energy is reporting 20 customers are without power. Bluebonnet is reporting 17 outages. There are 117 active outages with Oncor Energy in Williamson County. PEC has reported that there are 12 total outages.

6:31 a.m. Marble Falls ISD is on a two-hour delay ahead of classes.

Due to continued power outages, Marble Falls Elementary School, Marble Falls Middle School, and Falls Career High...

Posted by Marble Falls ISD on Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Oct. 25 at 6:22 a.m.  Jarrell ISD said its campuses are experiencing power outages still. Campuses will have a two-hour delay ahead of classes on Tuesday.

As it happened:

11:19 p.m. – All warnings have been allowed to expire and the Tornado Watch has been canceled. Rain is still in the process of exiting Fayette County, but the severe weather threat for the KVUE area has ended. 

11:05 p.m. – Austin Energy is reporting 8,750 customers are without power. There are 3,874 outages with Oncor in Williamson County. PEC is reporting 1,002 outages, and Bluebonnet is reporting 3,302 outages.

10:50 p.m. – Jarrell ISD said its campuses will operate as normal on Tuesday.

10:29 p.m. – The severe weather threat continues to lower as storms push east. We still can expect strong winds with the current line of storms.

10:09 p.m. – A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for Guadalupe, Comal, Hays, Bastrop, Bexar, Caldwell, Gonzales, Lee, Fayette and Travis counties until 11:15 p.m. 

9:59 p.m. – Austin Energy is reporting 8,882 customers without power. Power outages are also being reported in Jarrell.

Several power down in the greater Jarrell area. No estimated time of repair.

Posted by Jarrell Office of Emergency Management on Monday, October 24, 2022

9:53 p.m. – Interstate 35 southbound lanes are shut down due to an overturned 18-wheeler at exit 271 north of Ronald Reagan Boulevard in Jarrell. Avoid the area and drive safely.

9:44 p.m. – More than 6,630 Austin Energy customers are without power as storms push through the Austin metro area. Most of the outages are located in northwest Austin along Parmer Lane and MoPac.

9:24 p.m. – A Tornado Warning for northeastern Williamson County has now expired.

9:21 p.m. – Straight-line winds have knocked several 18-wheelers on their side along the frontage road, while one tractor-trailer is on its side on Interstate 35, the Jarrell Office of Emergency Management said.

Quick update-at 920 pm-straight line winds have had several 18 wheelers flipped on their side along the frontage road. Additionally, one tractor trailer is on its side on IH 35. Please avoid IH 35.

Posted by Jarrell Office of Emergency Management on Monday, October 24, 2022

9:12 p.m. – A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for Travis, Williamson, Bastrop, Hays and Lee counties until 10:15 p.m.

9:10 p.m. – A Tornado Warning is in effect for northeastern Williamson, southeastern Bell and northern Milam counties until 9:30 p.m.

8:50 p.m. – A Tornado Warning has been issued for northeastern Williamson County until 9:30 p.m., possibly tracking over Jarrell, heading east at 60 mph. Residents in the area, including Jarrell, Granger and near Sun City, are asked to take shelter.

8:45 p.m. – A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for Bell, Milam, McLennan, Falls until 9:30 p.m.

8:18 p.m. – A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is now in effect for northern Burnet and northwestern Williamson counties until 9:15 p.m.

8:08 p.m. – Strong storms are ongoing across the Hill Country. These storms will continue to organize into a line of storms as they push eastward. This brings an increasing threat for damaging winds, and an isolated tornado.

7:56 p.m. – A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for Burnet until 8:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m. – A Tornado Watch has been issued for much of Central Texas until midnight. Severe storms capable of damaging winds gusts, hail and isolated tornadoes will be possible.

This includes Bastrop, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, Travis, Williamson, Burnet and Milam County.

Timeline: When to expect the storms

Scattered storms across the Hill Country will quickly organize into a line of storms later this evening. The initial scattered storms will bring a low-end severe risk, but the main window for severe storms will open up around 8 p.m. 

Credit: KVUE

The line of storms will quickly strengthen as it pushes eastward, and could be moving into parts of the I-35 corridor and Austin metro by 9 or 10 p.m. 

Again, gusty winds will be the main threat, but an isolated tornado will also be possible. 

Credit: KVUE

Beyond 10 p.m., the storms push east of the I-35 corridor with the continued threat for severe weather. 

Credit: KVUE

By 1 a.m., if not earlier, the severe weather threat for the KVUE area will end as the storms push away to the east. After the storms, we still have the potential for strong, non-thunderstorm winds.

Credit: KVUE

Strong winds still possible behind the storms 

A Wind Advisory has been issued through 9 a.m. Tuesday morning with the potential for sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts as high as 50 mph possible. 

Credit: KVUE

Make sure to secure any loose items or Halloween decorations in the yard before you go to bed!

Credit: KVUE

The KVUE Weather Team will continue to monitor this developing forecast. 

In the meantime, the extended forecast can be found below:

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