Severe Winds to Disrupt Travel This Thursday Evening – What You Need to Know

Severe weather battered parts of the Pacific Northwest Thursday as forecasts showed a resurgence of heavy rain for a handful of southern and midwestern states. The wave of storms dampened travel plans after the Christmas holiday and contributed to hundreds of flight cancellations nationwide.

A series of thunderstorms caused ground stops at both Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Thursday afternoon. Amid what AAA predicted was to be the busiest holiday travel season on record, there were at least 264 flight cancellations out of DFW as of Thursday evening, accounting for 22% of all cancellations nationwide, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. Another 550 flights out of DFW were delayed, accounting for 46% of all delays nationwide.

“We have a connecting flight here from DFW to Tokyo for our second anniversary, and it’s been delayed 12 times. Communication has been poor,” Latoyia Pugh told CBS News.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott activated the state’s emergency response plan in preparation for the weather Thursday afternoon.

“Texas is prepared to deploy all necessary resources to help local officials respond to severe weather threats,” Abbott said in a statement. “As Texans and out-of-state visitors begin traveling after the Christmas holiday, it’s crucial that everyone regularly monitor road conditions, make an emergency plan, and heed the guidance of state and local officials.”

At least one suspected tornado touched down near El Campo, Texas, Thursday evening, about 80 miles southwest of Houston. The most potent storms were covering a region from Shreveport, Louisiana, south to Beaumont, Texas, according to CBS News senior national weather correspondent Rob Marciano.

Earlier, the National Weather Service in Fort Worth issued various watches and warnings for flash floods, dense fog, tornadoes, and thunderstorms in different parts of the region on Thursday morning. All the tornado watches and warnings had been canceled by Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Oregon and Washington were expected to see moderate to heavy rainfall and a few thunderstorms Thursday, resulting in up to 3 inches of inundation spread across the area and potentially some flooding in places where the rain falls rapidly, according to a National Weather Service advisory. Mountain snow, high winds, and perilous surf were also expected.

At one point Thursday morning, almost 60,000 customers were without power in Washington and Oregon, according to the outage tracker FindEnergy.com. However, by Thursday night, that number was down to about 14,600 customers. 

This is the latest iteration in a series of storms caused by an atmospheric river currently impacting the West Coast. The initial round in the Northwest is expected to move inland by Thursday afternoon, meteorologists said, offering the region a short reprieve before another bout of extreme weather arrives Thursday night in many of the same areas. The upcoming spell is expected to bring an additional inch or two of rainfall by Friday morning.