Texas hit with severe weather, tornado warnings

Severe weather ripped through North Texas on Thursday as residents faced a series of severe thunderstorms that brought a tornado warning, rain, and hail to the region.

The National Weather Service said there was a chance of wind gusts up to 70 mph and large hail as tornado warnings were issued Thursday night through 8 p.m. The watch stretched from just north of Waco up into Oklahoma, and from Cisco in the west to Paris, Texas.

TORNADOES, VIOLENT STORMS RAVAGE TEXAS AS STORM SYSTEM PASSES THROUGH DEEP SOUTH

At a car dealership in Irving, Texas, the storm brought strong winds and did considerable damage to the roof.

SEVERE WEATHER ROCKS SOUTHERN STATES BRINGING HIGH WINDS, TORNADOES, KNOCKING OUT POWER FOR NEARLY 1 MILLION

Footage from downtown Dallas and Fort Worth showed darkened skies as the storm system moved through the metropolis area.

Along with Texas, the central Gulf Coast and the Southeast Plains will be hit with severe weather this week with the risk of large hail, damaging winds, tornado warnings and flooding rainfall.  

On the cold side of this system, measurable snow will fall over the northern Plains, sections of the Midwest and the Great Lakes. A powerful cold front associated with the system will drop temperatures significantly, with freeze advisories up for the Plains and Southeast.

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Meanwhile, wet weather for the eastern third of the country could put a damper on some St. Patrick’s Day parades.

Fox News’ Janice Dean contributed to this report.