Fierce storms lashed Texas and the Southern Plains on Tuesday, uprooting trees, flipping large trucks, damaging buildings and leaving thousands without power, the latest severe weather to hit the central U.S. following a series of deadly storms that left at least 22 people dead over the holiday weekend.
The warm, moist air that produced one of the most tornado-producing periods in recent memory will linger over the Plains and bring tornado-producing thunderstorms across the central United States this week, according to the National Weather Service.
Dallas County officials issued a disaster declaration on Tuesday, and Judge Clay Jenkins wrote on X that the storm would likely cause a “large number” of electricity customers in the area to lose power for several days.
As of Tuesday afternoon, about 800,000 homes and businesses were without power across North Central Texas as up to 2.5 inches of rain fell in some areas. The majority of the outages were reported in Dallas County, the second most populous county in Texas, where more than 350,000 utility customers were without power.
Weather officials issued tornado and thunderstorm watches for the entire Dallas-Fort Worth area, warning residents to prepare for dangerous conditions after reports of winds gusting more than 70 mph. “If you’re in the area under this warning, or know someone who is, please tell them to evacuate. Stay off the roads,” the Fort Worth weather service said on Twitter.
More than 280 flights were canceled and more than 550 were delayed at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. The Federal Aviation Administration reported on its system status website that flights were suspended at George Bush International/Houston.
School districts across North Central Texas canceled classes for the day or delayed the start of the school day by several hours. The University of Texas at Dallas closed its campus until 12:00 p.m. local time. In a post on X, the school asked students, staff and faculty to “remain off campus while we assess the damage.”
Officials in the city of Forney, east of Dallas, urged residents to conserve water after their pumping station and backup generators experienced “storm-related electrical issues,” according to a post on the city’s Facebook page. Kaufman County, which covers Forney, canceled court sessions for the day and extended all non-emergency hours until 10 a.m. local time.
The cluster of storms is expected to batter southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana throughout the afternoon. Meanwhile, a new series of strong storms could develop in West Texas Tuesday afternoon and evening, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Flooding and storms could extend from West Texas into the western Gulf Coast.
Forecaster says extreme heat to linger in southern US
Meanwhile, the extreme heat that hit the Gulf Coast last week is expected to linger in parts of the region and South Texas, with temperatures expected to reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit, the weather service said. Record-high temperatures and above-normal temperatures are also expected to continue across central and southern Florida every day over the next few days.
The sweltering heat set new daily records across the Sunshine State on Memorial Day, with Melbourne and Fort Pierce on the Atlantic coast recording a temperature of 98 degrees, matching the highest May temperature ever recorded in Fort Pierce and the second-highest temperature ever recorded in Melbourne.
Storms threaten central US through midweek
The storm is expected to continue through the night on Tuesday and weaken but could cause flooding across East Texas and Louisiana, according to the weather service. Meteorologists say storms are possible across Texas on Wednesday.
But the danger will shift north to the northern Plains, especially the corridor stretching from Montana and North Dakota into Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas. The weather service warned that the storms will bring a threat of “severe hail and winds” that could develop and develop late Wednesday afternoon and early evening.
Storms are expected to move across the Central and Southern Plains Thursday through the afternoon and evening, bringing renewed fears of damaging winds, hail and flooding to North Texas and western Oklahoma. The storms may include several supercells, a type of most powerful thunderstorm, the weather service said.
Storms wreak havoc in Texas, central US
The threat of severe weather continues after deadly weekend storms that left more than 20 people dead and hundreds of homes destroyed.
At least eight people were killed in Arkansas, seven, including two children, in Texas, five in Kentucky and two in Oklahoma as tornadoes ripped through the region, downing trees, flipping cars and destroying buildings, according to authorities. At least 200 homes and buildings were destroyed and 120 damaged in Texas over the weekend.
Eight people were killed in early May after a storm brought winds of more than 100 mph to the Houston area. Last Wednesday, a tornado ripped through Temple, Texas, destroying a small town north of Austin and leaving several people slightly injured. And this month, heavy rains killed a 4-year-old boy and caused some of the worst river flooding in history, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate East Texas.
“The hopes and dreams of Texas families and small businesses have literally been shattered by storm after storm,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement Sunday.
Tens of thousands of businesses were without power Tuesday morning. More than 68,000 outages were reported in Kentucky, 39,000 in Arkansas, 18,000 in West Virginia and 16,000 in Missouri, according to USA Today’s outage tracker.
Contributors: Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Jorge L. Ortiz, Phaedra Trethan, USA Today
