Severe weather pounded parts of the West Coast this week with mountain snowfall and high winds.

Heavy mountain snow made travel difficult in the western part Washington state.

The eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass closed multiple times Thursday due to spinouts and crashes. Drivers attempting to travel over Snoqualmie Pass on Christmas Day were also met with a lot of snow, traffic, and plenty of travel restrictions. The pass was also closed for a time on Christmas Day due to spinouts and crashes.

Friday morning, traction tires were advised on Snoqualmie Pass with snow and slush on the highway, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. The same restrictions were in place at Stevens Pass, where the road was bare and wet, with snow, slush and ice in places. Oversize vehicles were prohibited on both passes.

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory in the Cascades for areas above 3,500 feet from Friday until early Saturday evening. The weather service said additional snow accumulation up to 22 inches was possible for some areas, with the heaviest snow expected in areas above 5,000 feet.

Drivers heading over the Cascade passes should prepare for “very difficult to impossible” travel conditions, the NWS said. Drivers are urged to slow down and use caution.

An avalanche warning is in effect for the Washington Cascades until 6 p.m. Friday. The Northwest Avalanche Center said there was still a “considerable” avalanche danger for most the Cascades. As of Friday morning, the “west slopes south” and Mount Hood remained under a “high” threat of avalanches.

In Oregon, cleanup is underway in Portland after a storm tore through on Thursday.

High wind alerts were issued and NWS warned of possible downed trees and power outages.

At the height of the storm, Portland General Electric reported over 20,000 households were without power. "There were scattered power outages across the county, mostly along the Long Beach Peninsula," said Scott McDougall with Pacific County Emergency Management.

A KATU news crew saw workers Thursday in the Wilkes Neighborhood cutting several large trees that had fallen. They reported that coastal communities were also hammered by high winds.

Winds gusted as high as 41 mph at Portland International Airport. The NWS had issued a Wind Advisory late Christmas night for gusty winds in the Willamette Valley.

"So we do have high wind thresholds and criteria. So sometimes they're bordering on those thresholds and it may be oh we're seeing one gust or two gusts. So we have to kind of reevaluate as we're going on and in this case we started to see more widespread wind speeds and that's when we issued that advisory," said NWS Meteorologist Rebecca Muessle, when asked why the agency issued the warning long after some meteorologists reported wind gusts over 40 mph.

The NWS warned another round of chaotic weather could hit the region this weekend.

"We're in a La Nina year, so traditionally that brings down wetter and cooler air during the winter, so these low pressure systems just kind of stream in non-stop," Muessle added.

Meanwhile, in the South, severe storms prompted the NWS to issue tornado watches across Texas and Louisiana.

KFDM viewers reported that a tornado touched down in Harris County on Thursday around 4 p.m. local time.

Another viewer shared a video of a "twister" that had developed Thursday as a line of storms moved from east to west toward Southeast Texas.

The news outlet reported that there were no reports of any injuries.

More than a million people in parts of Louisiana and Texas were under tornado watches.

The powerful storms in Southeast Texas dumped several inches of rain in a short period of time, leading to flash flooding and stranding drivers in high water along Highway 69, Interstate 10, and several underpasses in Beaumont.

The severe weather also impacted holiday travel.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered ground stops at both DFW and Dallas Love Field, which led to frustrated travelers.

According to flight tracking website FlightAware, upwards of 700 flights within the U.S. were canceled on Thursday.