The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the Dallas-Fort Worth area from early Tuesday until 6:30 a.m.
The warning — which means a tornado has been sighted or picked up on radar — said the storm could pack damaging winds of up to 80 mph and hail the size of dime coins.
The alert warned of possible damage to roofs, windows and vehicles and urged people to seek shelter in sturdy enclosures.
Just before 6 a.m., weather sirens, heavy rain, wind gusts and hail were reported in parts of Dallas and North Texas.
An outdoor warning system was initially issued for a tornado watch for the far north, northeast and southeast parts of Dallas, according to the Dallas Emergency Management Agency, and minutes later the agency announced a citywide warning system was in effect, predicting hail up to 2.5 inches high and winds of up to 70 mph.
Power outages also began to be reported around 6 a.m.
Thousands of people were without power in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Tarrant and Wise counties. The total number of customers without power in those counties was 77,320 as of 6:15 a.m., according to an outage map from Oncor.
“We are currently monitoring and responding to power outages in DFW due to thunderstorms with large hail and wind gusts up to 60 mph,” a message on Oncor’s website read. “Storm watches and warnings have been issued for parts of our service area throughout the night. We appreciate your patience as we work to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.”
The storm comes after a weekend of deadly severe weather.
Seven people were killed and about 100 were injured when tornadoes struck North Texas on Saturday evening, state officials said.
Here’s the latest KXAS-TV (NBC5) weather forecast:
Tuesday: Partly cloudy, and very warm with a 30% chance of storms. Low: 72. High: 89. Wind: Southeast 10 to 15 mph.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy to warm with a 40% chance of storms. Low: 69. High: 85. Wind: Southeast 10-15 mph.
Thursday: Partly cloudy to warm with a 40% chance of storms. Low: 70. High: 85. Wind: Southeast 10-15 mph.
Friday: Partly cloudy to warm with a 40% chance of storms. Low: 72. High: 85. Wind: Southeast 10-15 mph.
Saturday (starting in June): Partly cloudy to warm with a 30% chance of storms. Low: 72. High: 87. Wind: Southeast 10-15 mph.
