Severe storms forecast for the south-central U.S. and Pacific Northwest on Thursday prompted warnings from weather officials as heavy rain and snow threatened to disrupt post-Christmas travel.
Beginning Thursday afternoon, widespread thunderstorms were expected to spread from southeastern Oklahoma through eastern Texas and parts of Arkansas and Louisiana, according to the National Weather Service.
“Given sufficient energy and a pronounced change in wind speed and direction with height in the atmosphere, all modes of severe weather are on the table, including hail, flooding, high winds and isolated tornadoes,” Gwen Fieweger an AccuWeather meteorologist said in an online forecast.
Houston, which saw heavy bands of rain that prompted flight delays on Christmas Eve, faces an enhanced risk of thunderstorms on Thursday, according to AccuWeather. The storms could to persist in the region through the weekend, threatening additional rainfall, hail and possible tornadoes across Louisiana and Alabama.
Atmospheric river brings storms to West
Meanwhile, in the west, a dayslong stretch of poor weather is showing no signs of slowing.
An atmospheric river, which has brought multiple rounds of severe storms to the Pacific Northwest this week, will further drench the region. On Thursday, forecasters with the weather service anticipate 1 to 3 inches of rainfall from northwestern California through western Oregon and the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, with “some instances of flooding where rainfall rates are highest.”
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From Thursday night into Friday morning, an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain is expected along with potentially damaging winds and heavy snow over the Cascades and Olympic Mountains.
“Since the ground is already soaked from prior storms, any additional rainfall through Friday will increase the threat for flooding and mudslides, especially across burn scar areas and along short-run rivers out of the Cascades,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Tyler Roys.
As the storm system moves inland, snow will pile up over the high terrain of the Northern Rockies.
Winter storm warnings were in effect across much of the Northwest, from northern California to Washington, Montana, Idaho, Nevada and Utah, according to the weather service.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Holiday week weather forecast warns of storms, flooding and tornadoes
