Texas Skies Turn Alien Red as Wild Storm Unleashes Chaos
Texas on Fire
Picture this—Tuesday afternoon, Dallas skies turned Martian red as winds up to 45 mph kicked up choking dust, sparking wildfires across dry Texas. The National Weather Service in San Antonio and Austin reported at least 15 fire outbreaks. In Atascosa County, strong gusts ignited house fires, while San Antonio saw 30 households evacuate due to a grass fire. The Texas A&M Forest Service is battling blazes in Blanco and Duval counties, with containment efforts ongoing.
Oklahoma and Texas Devastation: Severe thunderstorms unleashed chaos in Texas and Oklahoma, damaging buildings and toppling power lines. In Lewisville, Texas, a Benjamin Moore paint storage facility took a hit, though no employees were injured. Irving police confirmed storm damage, including downed lines, while an EF1 tornado (winds 86–110 mph) ripped through Ada, Oklahoma, leaving toppled structures and forcing Byng Public Schools to cancel classes due to debris and outages.
Widespread Power Outages: By late Tuesday, over 400,000 homes and businesses in the central U.S., Southeast, and Midwest were plunged into darkness, per PowerOutage.us. Wind gusts topping 70 mph in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana are to blame, with more outages likely as the storm marches east.
Dust Storm Drama: A haboob—a wall of dust and debris—swept Texas Tuesday, but winds have since calmed below 10 mph. Still, the eerie, red-hued skies left drivers and residents stunned.
Blizzard Threat Looms: The Midwest isn’t out of the woods. Winds of 50–70 mph could bring blizzard conditions to Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines, and even Minneapolis by Wednesday afternoon, snarling travel and blanketing roads in snow.
Flight Chaos: The storm’s fury grounded flights—about 800 cancellations and 4,000 delays within, into, or out of the U.S. by Tuesday evening, FlightAware reports. A ground stop hit Dallas Fort Worth International Airport as gusts hit 56 mph.
What’s Next? The East Coast Braces
This monster isn’t done yet. By Wednesday, it’s barreling toward the East Coast, threatening Florida to New York with severe thunderstorms, damaging winds, and tornadoes. Here’s the breakdown:
Deep South Hit Hard: Overnight, damaging storms battered Alabama, Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle, and they’re pushing east Wednesday. Expect strong winds and a few tornadoes from northern Florida to Pennsylvania. A tornado watch stays in place for southwestern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, and southeastern Georgia until 6 a.m. CST Wednesday—nighttime tornadoes are nearly twice as deadly, a 2022 study warns.
East Coast on Alert: The storm’s peak fury hits the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic Wednesday afternoon, from Charleston, South Carolina, to Norfolk, Virginia. Over 29 million people—from Florida to Pennsylvania, including D.C. and Baltimore—are under a Level 2/5 severe thunderstorm risk, with damaging winds and tornadoes possible. Another 8 million in the Carolinas and southern Virginia face a Level 3/5 risk, with winds over 75 mph and tornado threats.
Wind and Rain Persist: By Thursday, the worst precipitation will taper off, but gusty winds will linger, keeping conditions hazardous.
Is the Polar Vortex Collapse to Blame?
Here’s the big question: Could this storm be tied to the Polar Vortex collapse we reported earlier? Absolutely. The Vortex’s breakdown, driven by a massive Stratospheric Warming event, is weakening the jet stream, letting Arctic air and wild weather patterns spill south. That high-pressure block over Greenland and eastern Canada? It’s shoving low-pressure systems—and this storm—across the U.S., amplifying winds, cold snaps, and instability. It’s like nature’s throwing a chaotic weather party, and we’re all invited.
Gleb Perov is the founder and chief meteorologist of POGODNIK, a leading weather forecasting service in Eastern Europe. With over 15 years of hands-on experience in meteorology and climate analysis, he has worked private weather services.
Gleb is the author of numerous scientific and analytical publications on climate, magnetic storms, and atmospheric processes. He regularly collaborates with major international agencies such as NOAA, ECMWF.
