After A Short-Lived Reprieve, More Severe Weather Is Expected In North Texas Today

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Brace yourself for possible hail and wind damage this afternoon and evening; Dallas paid unique tribute to Pakistan bombing victims; a Granite Shoals woman brought drugs to the police to make sure they weren’t contaminated; and more.

Large hail and high winds — the deviant duo that’s plagued D-FW off and on the past few weeks — return for hopefully just one last encore before the March curtain closes. The National Weather Service says there are two rounds of storms expected today — one this morning and one this afternoon and evening “as a cold front overtakes the dryline and moves east across North and Central Texas,” the weather service says.

Also, tornadoes are possible this afternoon, particularly “near a dryline located west of Interstate 35 and also in warm, humid air east of the dryline; mainly along and east of Interstate 35/35E,” the weather service says. If happens, make sure you have everything you need beforehand with this tornado kit checklist.  

• Austin is way more artsy this year than it was last year. The second annual study on arts vibrancy among U.S. cities from SMU’s National Center for Arts Research said so. In the first study, which factors in arts-related employment, total arts dollar and local supports among other things, Austin ranked 62nd. Dallas was 85th. This year, Austin made a giant leap to 18th and Dallas further slipped to 92nd. Art&Seek reported: “According to Zannie Voss, the director of NCAR, that’s not because the cultural environment in Dallas is in serious decline — we’ve had such an influx of newcomers, they’ve watered down our numbers. Or, to put it another way, arts activity here is not keeping up with population growth.” Read more. [Art&Seek]

• Following the bombing in Lahore, Pakistan, killing at least 70 and injuring hundreds more on Easter Sunday, Dallas paid tribute. The facade of the Omni Hotel illuminated the Pakistani flag in honor of the victims, many of which were women and children. Vox reported: “Lighting up monuments is a symbolic gesture. But the debate over how much attention people pay to deaths and tragedy in non-Western countries is often about symbols: headlines, rallies, tributes.”Read more. [Vox]

• A Rowlett couple owned a home free and clear, and they had insurance. Then the Dec. 26 tornadoes hit. The problem? Rebuilding costs more than what insurance is paying. They’re both HIV positive, on disability and live on a fixed budget. For Anthony and Alfredo Fowler-Rainone, there isn’t much room to cut back. KERA Courtney Collins wraps up the monthlong series, One Crisis Away: Rebuilding A Life, with a story about a couple that was in better shape than most before a storm razed their everyday reality to the ground. But they managed to find a silver lining. Read more. [KERA News]

• A woman worried about her drugs being contaminated by Ebola responsibly took it to the police for inspection -- and then she was arrested. The woman of Granite Shoals did this after seeing a post on the city police department’s Facebook page that told people with heroin or meth to bring it in for possible Ebola contamination. The post was a hoax, but the 29-year-old woman followed its instruction and was arrested for it. Here’s what the post (now a broken link) said according to KENS:

Some people online are questioning the woman’s mental health and considering the incident police entrapment. [KENS]