Severe Weather Alert: Brace Yourself for Holiday Week Storms, Floods, and Twisters!

Multiple rounds of storms impacted the south-central U.S. and Pacific Northwest with significant rain and snow on Thursday, causing frustration for many traveling the day after Christmas as several airports briefly halted flights and recorded delays.

Commencing Thursday afternoon, widespread thunderstorms were predicted to extend from southeastern Oklahoma through eastern Texas and parts of Arkansas and Louisiana, per the National Weather Service.

“With adequate energy and a noticeable shift in wind speed and direction with altitude in the atmosphere, all forms of severe weather are possible, including hail, flooding, strong winds, and isolated tornadoes,” Gwen Fieweger an AccuWeather meteorologist stated in an online forecast.

Houston, which experienced substantial rainfall that led to flight delays on Christmas Eve, encounters an elevated risk of thunderstorms on Thursday, according to AccuWeather. The storms could persist in the vicinity through the weekend, posing a threat of further rainfall, hail, and potential tornadoes across Louisiana and Alabama.

The weather service office in Fort Worth, Texas, issued flash flood alerts across numerous counties Thursday morning as some regions reported quarter-sized hail and gusty winds reaching up to 50 mph.

“Flash flooding is currently occurring or anticipated to commence shortly,” the alert indicated. “Flooding is more probable for areas that received heavy rainfall on Christmas Eve. Remain particularly cautious about flooding if the ground near your area is already saturated.”

Atmospheric river brings storms to West

In the meantime, the West is experiencing a prolonged period of adverse weather with no signs of abating.

An atmospheric river, which has unleashed multiple rounds of severe storms on the Pacific Northwest this week, will continue to saturate the region. On Thursday, weather service forecasters expect 1 to 3 inches of rainfall from northwestern California through western Oregon and the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, along with “some instances of flooding where rainfall rates are peaking.”

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From Thursday night into Friday morning, an added 1 to 2 inches of rain is forecasted, along with possibly damaging winds and heavy snow over the Cascades and Olympic Mountains.

“Since the ground is already soaked from previous storms, any further rainfall through Friday will heighten the risk for flooding and mudslides, particularly across burn scar areas and along short-run rivers exiting the Cascades,” noted AccuWeather meteorologist Tyler Roys.

As the storm system advances inland, snow will accumulate in the elevated areas of the Northern Rockies.

Winter storm alerts were in effect across much of the Northwest, from northern California to Washington, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah, as per the weather service.

Storms result in grounded flights, airport delays

As rounds of rain and thunderstorms pummeled the Northwest and numerous southern states, delays and cancellations began stacking up at airports.

Flights at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport were momentarily suspended “due to thunderstorms,” as reported by the Federal Aviation Administration. At 10:45 a.m., delays at the major airport averaged about 45 minutes. More than 200 flights were canceled and over 150 experienced delays Thursday morning, according to FlightAware.

San Francisco International Airport experienced temporary grounding of its flights owing to strong winds, as per the FAA.

Other airports, including those in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Salt Lake City, Utah, were treating planes with deicing fluid.

(This article has been updated to incorporate new information.)