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Bad weather could make traveling home after the holidays difficult for millions of American travelers this week and weekend.
As Pacific storms continue to batter the West Coast, severe thunderstorms are forecast across the South on Thursday, potentially disrupting plans for the nearly 120 million people expected to travel during the year-end holidaysaccording to the non-profit organization AAA.
Dozens of delays and cancellations were already reported at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas Thursday morning. Airports in Austin, Atlanta and Los Angeles were also reportedly affected the FlightAware tracker.
Heavy rain and mountain snow will move over the Pacific Northwest for the rest of the week as the latest atmospheric event on the river — a plume of moisture in the sky — brings moderate to heavy rain and thunderstorms to the region.
“Across the North West, there will be wet and snowy roads to contend with, depending on your elevation, resulting in difficult travel from Christmas night through the end of the week as storms hit the region,” AccuWeather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.
As much as 3 inches of rain could fall in some areas, leading to flooding in areas with the heaviest rainfall.
As the storm system moves inland, there will be a short break before the next round arrives Thursday night, with an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain by Friday morning.
Forecasters also warned of potentially damaging winds near the coast.
As much as three feet of snow will fall in the Cascades and Olympic Mountains. Winter storm warnings are in effect there, and northern California is also under light snow warnings.
The Northern Rockies and Intermountain West will also receive “noteworthy” snow.
While relatively mild conditions are forecast for much of the country through Friday, heavy rain and severe thunderstorms are expected to return from East Texas to Louisiana on Thursday.
“Wind shear and instability parameters appear to become increasingly favorable for some severe weather on Thursday, so the Storm Prediction Center has portions of the ArkLaTex region at a slight risk of severe storms,” National Weather Service warned.
Large hail and tornadoes could be possible, it said FOX Weatherwith rain spreading during the busiest travel days in the post-holiday period.
Heavy rainfall will bring a slight risk of flash flooding from East Texas to central Arkansas. Heavy rain is also likely in parts of the Mid-South on Friday as the storm system slowly moves east.