Weather threatens holiday travel as storms, dense fog hit parts of Pacific Northwest, Midwest, South

Severe weather continued to batter parts of the Pacific Northwest Thursday as forecasts showed a resurgence of heavy rain for a handful of southern and midwestern states. The wave of storms was expected to put a damper on travel plans after the Christmas holiday.

Oregon and Washington will likely see moderate to heavy rainfall and a few thunderstorms throughout the morning, resulting in up to 3 inches of inundation spread across the area and potentially some flooding in places where the rain falls rapidly, according to a National Weather Service advisory. Mountain snow, high winds and perilous surf was also expected.

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

This is the latest iteration in a series of storms caused by an atmospheric river currently impacting the West Coast. The initial round in the Northwest is expected to move inland by Thursday afternoon, meteorologists said, offering the region a short reprieve before another bout of extreme weather arrives Thursday night in many of the same areas. The upcoming spell is expected to bring an additional inch or two of rainfall by Friday morning.

High wind warnings were also in place Thursday for stretches of coastal Oregon, including areas around Bandon, Coos Bay and Newport, as well as Seattle and several of its surrounding suburbs. 

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

The National Weather Service in Seattle shared similar warnings overnight Wednesday into Thursday, noting wind gusts in the area could peak at around 60 mph for coastal areas and reach up to 55 mph around the Puget Sound. Meteorologists in Portland reported a wind gust of 92 mph at Beacon Rock, Washington — which is roughly 35 miles east of Portland — in the early hours of Thursday morning, the weather service said.

The latest storms in the Pacific Northwest trailed a string of dangerous weather along the West Coast this holiday week. Earlier, a major storm hammered central California and caused the death of at least one person in Sunset State Beach, who on Monday became trapped beneath debris that authorities believe piled on top of him because of a large wave, the Associated Press reported.

Video shared by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office appeared to show a building collapsed and washed away at sea.

Dangerous storms also took aim at 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 are set to remain in effect through the late morning.

“Another round of thunderstorms is expected today, some of which may be severe,” the forecasters said in an advisory early Thursday. The weather service said northern and central Texas would likely be impacted, but the most severe storms were predicted to hit during the afternoon as the system pushes into eastern Texas.

Thick fog also hovered over portions of the Midwest on Thursday. In Kansas City, forecasters predicted fog and light rainfall would persist throughout the day, with areas of especially low visibility — less than a quarter of a mile in some places — expected to linger across central and eastern Kansas as well as central Missouri through the morning. Forecasts suggested the fog would dissipate, but only to an extent, by the afternoon.

Outlooks farther north in Illinois were fairly similar. 

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