Severe weather continues to hamper the journey home after the holidays for millions of travelers this weekend as thousands of flights were canceled of delayed across the US.
More than 18,000 flights into, out of, or within the US were delayed or canceled Thursday and Friday, according to flight tracker FlightAware.com. As of Saturday morning, another 2,638 flights have been delayed and another 519 have been canceled.
The multi-day severe storm threat will continue to impact the South as an tornado outbreak is likely, according to the National Weather Service, with damaging straight-line winds, large hail and heavy rainfall expected all weekend.
“An outbreak of severe storms with tornadoes, wind damage, and large hail is expected from parts of the Southern Plains, into the Lower Mississippi Valley and central Gulf Coast states,” the NWS said. “Several long track tornadoes are expected.”
The weather service warned that the strongest tornadoes could come late Saturday afternoon into the evening.
This comes after severe storms already slammed parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Thursday and Friday.
Cities in areas from eastern Texas to western Georgia, including Houston, Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta, New Orleans and Birmingham could still see an isolated chance of tornadoes and damaging wind gusts and large hail this weekend.
The threat of tornadoes has now shifted to the east as storms are expected in Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. The severe storm threat is expected to weaken by Sunday.
Tornadoes are typically less common during the month of December, but this year has been well above average. As of December 26, there have been 1,777 tornado reports – which is above the average 1,347 reports, CNN reported. December sees an average 40 tornadoes compared to the nearly 270 seen on average in May.
On the West Coast, a series of atmospheric river-fueled storms is delivering more rounds of dangerous waves, powerful winds, heavy rainfall and thick mountain snowfall across the Pacific Northwest and Rockies.
“The revolving door of mid-latitude cyclones propagating through the Pacific Northwest is likely to continue through the rest of the weekend,” the National Weather Service said.
High wind alerts are in place across the Pacific Northwest and the Rockies, where wind gusts over 75 mph are possible.
“Widespread power outages are expected,” warns the weather service. “Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles, including areas along Highway 395 and Highway 95 near Walker Lake.”
The storm is expected to move onshore Saturday, which also could bring dangerously high waves and powerful rip currents.
High waves up to 15 feet could be seen as far south as the Malibu coast and across Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
“Dangerous swimming and surfing conditions and localized beach erosion can be expected. Large waves can sweep across the beach without warning, pulling people into the sea from rocks, jetties and beaches. Sudden immersion in cold water can result in cold water shock even for the most experienced swimmers,” according to the weather service.
The Cascades, Sierra Nevada and Rockies will see snowfall of 6 to 18 inches and gusts potentially over 70 mph could reduce visibility and make travel nearly impossible.
Avalanche warnings have been issued for the mountains of northern Utah, including the Wasatch Range and Bear River Range, warning: “Very dangerous avalanche conditions are expected to develop on many slopes.”
