A strong cold front is expected to move across the region late Saturday afternoon and evening bringing with it a risk of severe storms along with “strong and gusty” north winds.

The timing of the severe storms is forecast to be late Saturday afternoon — after 3 p.m. — and ending by 3 a.m. Sunday morning.

Damaging straight-line wind gusts and large hail are the main hazards.

Strong north winds behind the front on Saturday night into Sunday will produce frequent gusts over gale force and around 40 knots with building seas up to 12 feet for the outer waters. A Gale Watch has already been issued for the southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana coastal waters and likely will be extended to the east later today.

Also, the strong offshore winds will push water out of coastal lakes and bays and away from the coast producing low water conditions during the low tide cycle on Sunday morning.