Storms and dense fog threaten holiday travel in parts of the US

Severe weather continued to hit parts of the Pacific Northwest on Thursday as forecasts showed a resurgence of heavy rain in a handful of southern and midwestern states. It was expected that the storm wave after the Christmas holidays would put a damper on travel plans.

Oregon and Washington are likely to see moderate to heavy rainfall and isolated thunderstorms during the morning, resulting in flooding of up to 3 inches across the area and possibly some flooding in places where rain falls quickly, according to a National Weather report Service. advisory. Mountain snow, high winds and dangerous surf were also expected.

Nearly 60,000 customers were without power in Washington and Oregon around 8 a.m. PT on Thursday, according to the outage tracker FindEnergy.com.

This is the latest in a series of storms caused by an atmospheric river currently affecting the west coast. The first round in the northwest is expected to move inland by Thursday afternoon, meteorologists said, giving the region a brief reprieve before another bout of extreme weather hits many of the same areas Thursday evening. The coming period is expected to bring an additional inch or two of rain Friday morning.

High wind warnings were also in effect Thursday for parts of the Oregon coast, including areas around Bandon, Coos Bay and Newport, as well as Seattle and several surrounding suburbs.

Forecasters in Medford, Oregon, said in such a warning that “damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines” and advised people in the area to remain in their homes and prepare for widespread power outages and difficult travel conditions. That warning noted that high winds could reach 20 to 30 miles per hour, with gusts up to 50 miles per hour, until 10 a.m. PT.

The National Weather Service in Seattle issued similar warnings Wednesday through Thursday, noting that wind gusts in the area could peak at about 60 mph for coastal areas and reach up to 55 mph around the Puget Sound. Meteorologists in Portland reported wind gusts of 90 mph in the early hours of Thursday morning at Beacon Rock, Washington, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Portland, the weather service said.

The latest storms in the Pacific Northwest followed a series of dangerous weather events along the West Coast this holiday week. Earlier, a severe storm hit central California, causing the death of at least one person at Sunset State Beach, who became trapped Monday under debris that authorities said was piled on top of him due to a large wave, the Associated Press reported.

Video shared by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office It looked like a building had collapsed and been washed out to sea.

Dangerous storms also targeted the South on Thursday, potentially threatening states including Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas with large hail, damaging winds, flash flooding and tornadoes.

The National Weather Service in Fort Worth has issued dense fog and flash flood warnings for parts of the region, which will remain in effect until late this morning.

“A further round of thunderstorms is expected today, some of which could be severe,” forecasters said said in an opinion early Thursday. The weather service said North and Central Texas would likely be affected, but the strongest storms were forecast to hit during the afternoon as the system pushes into East Texas.

There was also thick fog over parts of the Midwest on Thursday. In Kansas City, forecasters predicted fog and light rain were expected to continue throughout the day, with areas of particularly poor visibility – less than a quarter mile in some places – expected to linger throughout the morning across central and eastern Kansas and central Missouri. Forecasts suggested the fog would clear by midday, but only to a point.

The outlook further north in Illinois was quite similar.

“Areas of dense fog will remain over parts of northern Illinois through this afternoon,” the National Weather Service in Chicago said mid-morning Thursday. “Expect low visibility and slow driving on the roads until conditions improve.”

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