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Weather in Dallas and Houston causes airport delays

Weather in Dallas and Houston causes airport delays

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  • Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
  • It was the latest in a series of delays during the busy holiday travel season.
  • Drivers were also urged to pay close attention to the weather.

The weather in Dallas put a serious damper on holiday travel on Thursday.

More than 1,500 flights were canceled or delayed at Dallas-Fort Worth International, the nation’s third-busiest and ninth-busiest airport with the most weather-related delays. Due to thunderstorms, the FAA ordered ground stops throughout the day, delaying flights by 90 minutes or more.

Dozens of flights were also affected at Dallas Love Field, with departure delays of an hour or more.

“Rain began to fall in Dallas Thursday morning as a system moved through the region bringing strong winds and triggering a flash flood warning for heavy rain,” Weather.com digital meteorologist Sara Tonks said Thursday afternoon.

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The storms also brought hail south of the Dallas metropolitan area, according to storm reports from the National Weather Service.

Airports in the Houston area were also affected by delays. At least five tornadoes were reported in southeast Texas.

It’s not just air travelers who need to be vigilant this week.

“The National Weather Service is warning of flooding on roads and highways that could be dangerous for all leisure travelers on the roads,” Tonks said.

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Anyone traveling overnight should be particularly careful.

“Storms may become severe until early Friday. Not everyone will experience severe storms, but those who do could experience impacts such as flooding due to heavy rainfall in a short period of time. The ground is already saturated, which limits how much the ground can absorb,” said Danielle Banks, on-camera meteorologist for Weather.com. “Remember again to turn around and not drown. Never attempt to cross a road covered in water!”

Areas of patchy fog could also make it difficult for drivers to see in the dark, but Banks said visibility should improve by Friday morning.

Thursday wasn’t the only day of travel issues in DFW. More than 1,500 flights to or from the airport were canceled or delayed Tuesday through Wednesday, the most at any U.S. airport on those days, according to online tracker FlightAware.

It all happened because airport officials predicted this year would be DFW’s busiest holiday season ever, with 4.7 million passengers expected between Dec. 20 and Jan. 7, up 2.4% from last year .

Weather.com Employees Jan Childs includes breaking news and features on weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.

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