A regional severe thunderstorm outbreak appears likely Thursday evening and into Friday morning with a few strong tornadoes, widespread damaging wind and hail all expected.

Doug Cramer, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Lake Charles office, said the thunderstorms will form Thursday evening over southeast Texas and will move into Louisiana overnight.

The Shreveport and Texarkana area have a moderate chance of seeing tornado formations in their area, he said.

“We’re seeing the possibility of an environment coming together up there for strong tornadoes,” Cramer said. “That is not in our forecast area, and that’s a good thing; however, the risk is not zero. We’re not out of the woods here. We do have a slight and enhanced risk for our areas and any time we’ve had a chance for tornadoes this year, we’ve had tornadoes. That’s why we’re not out of the woods.”

Cramer said the storms could arrive in Southwest Louisiana around midnight Friday morning and be in Lafayette around 3 a.m.

Cloud-to-ground lightning is forecast during this time.

“Severe weather is not the only hazard we’ll be expecting,” Cramer said. “By the time Thursday afternoon rolls around, we’re looking at 20-25 mph wind. That will continue in the evening hours before the storms get here.”

A wind advisory will likely be issued, he said.

Lake Charles also has a 5 to 14 percent chance of seeing hail about one inch in diameter or larger.

A small craft advisory will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday for lakes, bays and the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to end at 1 p.m. Friday.

“I think we’re going to see coastal flooding in southeast Texas and the Louisiana coast,” Cramer said.