DALLAS: As a powerful storm system that dumped a lot of snow in California moved eastward on Thursday, tornadoes touched down in Texas and Louisiana. This knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights into and out of Dallas.
According to the National Weather Service, tornado watches were issued until late Thursday night for Dallas, Fort Worth, and the surrounding areas of Texas where wind gusts could reach 80 mph (145 kph).
The weather service tweeted, "If your phone is alerted and you hear sirens, that is for wind speeds as strong as a weak tornado." Treat it accordingly! Avoid windows and go inside!
The weather service reported that a twister that struck the ground near the small town of Fouke moved northeast at 55 mph (88 km/h) toward Texarkana, about 100 miles (160 km) east of Dallas.
Along U.S. Route 75, winds north of Dallas uprooted trees, toppled four 18-wheelers, and tore off the roof of a grocery store. According to police, no serious injuries were reported.
A tornado struck Shreveport, Louisiana, further to the east. It was close to Louisiana State University.
According to poweroutage.us, as of Thursday evening, there was no electricity for more than 346,000 Texas utility customers.
According to FlightAware.com, there have been over 400 cancellations between Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field.
Due to the forecast, several school districts, including Dallas and Fort Worth, canceled activities and events after school.
Rich Thompson, lead forecaster for the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, stated, "This is the same system that struck California, and it is now in New Mexico, and it will be crossing Texas and then Arkansas," and the system will then move on to Texas.
He stated that the greatest threats were hail and strong winds.
According to meteorologists, the storm brought "once-in-a-generation" snow to California and Oregon, with accumulations of up to 7 feet (2 meters) in some places.
However, the snowfall is credited with helping to alleviate and, in some instances, eliminate California's drought conditions.