Houston weather: Strong, severe storms possible on Thursday

HOUSTON - It's cloudy, cool and dry today, but strong storms are on the way for tomorrow!

Make sure you download our FOX 26 Weather App and stay alert for watches and warnings that we could get with Thursday's storm system.

The National Weather Service has put out an alert warning of possible damaging winds and tornadoes in the Houston area. Officials ask residents to stay off the roads if they do not need to travel.

Watches and warnings can be confusing, so here's everything you need to know:

A strong area of low pressure over California will track into SE Texas tomorrow morning and will interact with a warm front to bring the chance for several storm threats with storms possible as early as 3 a.m. 

Expect scattered showers and storms to push in by early morning with heavy downpours building in that could affect the morning commute. Storms could also be strong to severe in the morning. Temperatures climb to around 70 Thursday afternoon with more rounds of heavy rain and strong to severe storms. There's a category 3 out of 5 risk for severe weather Thursday along with a rare 5-10% chance for tornadoes for each county.

Isolated tornadoes, hail and wind gusts around 60-70 mph are all possible. 1-3" will be common and could lead to a few areas with street flooding.

Storms could last into early Friday morning, but conditions will gradually improve late Friday and into the weekend.