Holiday travelers setting out for what is expected to be one of the busiest travel weekends of the year are already facing delays as a severe storm system rolls into the Southern US.
The severe storms in the area prompted the National Weather Service to issue flash flood warnings for Dallas Thursday afternoon. The FAA had ordered ground stops at two Texas airports, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport, which were lifted at 1 p.m. local time.
According to the flight tracking website Flight Aware, more than 570 flights into or out of the US were canceled Thursday, with most of those flights heading into or out of Dallas-Fort Worth.
The Storm Prediction Center has issued a tornado watch for nearly 9 million people in parts of southeastern Texas and east-central Louisiana until 7 p.m. CST.
Over 4 million people are under a level 3 of 5 severe storm threat Thursday afternoon in southeastern Texas, including Houston, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The center is warning of several tornadoes, including a strong tornado or two, and large hail from east Texas this afternoon and into Louisiana, southern Arkansas and far west central Mississippi overnight.
The severe storm threat is expected to ramp up across the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi River Valley by Thursday afternoon and is expected to last until the evening as a low-pressure system across the region strengthens.
Storms could potentially bring severe wind gusts, damaging hail, and a few tornadoes to cities, including Houston and Austin.
An isolated severe storm threat spreads across central Texas to central Arkansas, western Mississippi, and southern Louisiana, including cities like Dallas, Fort Worth, Little Rock, and Baton Rouge. The total population under some sort of severe storm threat Thursday exceeds 20 million people.
Severe storm threat outlook for this weekend
The severe storm threat is expected to diminish across the South on Friday but ramp up again on Saturday.
“It appears that all severe-weather modes and hazards could occur, including large hail, damaging wind, and tornadoes as storms steadily develop east-northeastward Saturday afternoon and Saturday night,” warns the Storm Prediction Center.
Cities like Houston, Memphis, New Orleans, Birmingham, and Montgomery could all see a lower chance of storms on Saturday.
This series of storms could affect the East Coast by Sunday and potentially lead to additional delays for those traveling home from the holidays.
A record number of travelers are expected to close out in 2024, according to AAA. The association projected 119.3 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home from December 21 to January 1. That’s 3 million more travelers than the same period last year.
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