Fierce storms swept over Texas and the southern Plains on Tuesday, uprooting trees, overturning semi-trucks, damaging buildings and knocking out power to thousands – the latest outbreak of severe weather to hit the central U.S. following a series of deadly storms that killed at least 22 people over the holiday weekend.
The warm, moist air that's fueled one of themost active periods for tornadoesin recent years will linger over the Plains region, bringing thunderstorms capable of spawning twisters across the central U.S. this week, according tothe National Weather Service.
Dallas County officials issued a disaster declaration Tuesday. Judge Clay Jenkins posted on X that the storms will likely result in "a multi day power outage for a significant number" of utility customers in the region.
As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 800,000 homes and businesses across north-central Texas were without power as up to 2.5 inches of rain fell in some areas. Dallas County, the second most populous county in Texas, reported most of the outages: More than 350,000 utility customers were in the dark.
Weather officials issued tornado and thunderstorm advisories throughout the Dallas and Fort Worth areas, citing reports of winds of over 70 mph and warning residents to brace for dangerous conditions. "If you’re in the warning area or know someone there let them know to take cover! Stay off the roads," the weather service office in Fort Worth said on X, formerly Twitter.
At Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, more than 280 flights were canceled and over 550 were delayed, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website. Flights were at a standstill at George Bush International/Houston, the Federal Aviation Administration reported on its system status website.
School districts throughout north-central Texas either canceled classes for the day or delayed the first bell by a few hours. The University of Texas at Dallas closed its campus until 12 p.m. local time. In a post on X, the school urged students, staff and faculty to "stay off campus while we assess damage."
Officials for the city of Forney, just east of Dallas, asked residents to conserve water as the pump station and backup generators experienced "electrical issues caused by the storms," a post on the city's Facebook page said. Kaufman County, which encompasses Forney, canceled court for the day and delayed the opening of all non-emergency departments until 10 a.m. local time.
The cluster of storms is expected to lash southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana throughout the afternoon. Meanwhile, a fresh round of strong storms could develop across west Texas on Tuesday afternoon and evening, the Storm Prediction Center said. The flooding and storms could extend from the Texas Panhandle to the western Gulf Coast.
Intense heat wave to linger over southern US, forecasters say
Meanwhile, the intense heat wave that's burdened the Gulf Coast for the last week will linger across the region and parts of southern Texas with "feels like" temperatures up to 115 degrees, the weather service said. High temperatures are also expected to remain above average with near daily record highs throughout central and southern Florida over the next few days.
The oppressive heat set new daily high records across the Sunshine State on Memorial Day. In Melbourne and Fort Pierce, on the Atlantic Coast, temperatures of 98 degrees were recorded, matching the warmest May temperature ever recorded in Fort Pierce and reaching the second highest temperature recorded in Melbourne.
Storms threaten central US into the midweek
Tuesday's storms are expected to continue into the night, and while they will diminish in strength they could remain capable of triggering floods across eastern Texas and Louisiana, the weather service said. Meteorologists say there is a possibility storms could develop across the Lone Star State on Wednesday.
The danger, however, will shift north into the upper Plains region, particularly along a corridor spanning from Montana and North Dakota to Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas. The weather service warned that the storms pose a threat of "severe hail and wind" that will appear and develop late Wednesday afternoon and evening.
On Thursday, storms are forecast to sweep across the central and southern Plains through the day and into the night, renewing threats of damaging wind, hail and floods in northern Texas and western Oklahoma. The system may include a few supercells, the most powerful thunderstorm type, according to the weather service.
Immense damage in the wake of storms across Texas, central US
The continued threat of severe weather follows a weekend of deadly storms, which left over 20 people dead and hundreds of homes destroyed.
At least eight people died in Arkansas, seven in Texas, including two children; five in Kentucky and two in Oklahoma amid tornadoes that tore across communities, toppling trees, overturning cars and flattening buildings, authorities said. In Texas, at least 200 homes and buildings were destroyed and 120 were damaged over the weekend.
Earlier in May, eight people in the Houston area were killed in storms that unleashed winds over 100 mph. Last Wednesday, a tornado touched down in Temple, Texas, ravaging the small city north of Austin and leaving several people with minor injuries. Also this month, hundreds of people had to be evacuated fromeastern Texas in a deluge that took the life of a 4-year-old boyand led to historic river flooding.
"The hopes and dreams of Texas families and small businesses have literally been crushed by storm after storm," Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement Sunday.
Tens of thousands of and businesses were without power on Tuesday morning. Over 68,000 outages were reported in Kentucky, 39,000 in Arkansas, 18,000 in West Virginia and 16,000 in Missouri, according to a USA TODAY outage tracker.
Contributing: Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Jorge L. Ortiz and Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY
