Millions face threat of severe weather in southern US

A severe weather system is set to bring damaging winds and potentially tornadoes to Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas on Thursday, affecting millions of residents.

The National Weather Service (NWS) predicted that parts of central and north Texas, southeastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas, northern Louisiana and southwestern Arkansas can expect damaging winds up to 80 mph, several tornadoes and scattered large hail up to the size of a baseball.

Some of the damaging winds are expected to be as strong as a hurricane’s, and some of the tornadoes are expected to be “intense,” the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said.

Some regions could see tornadoes with winds of 111 to 135 miles per hour. One tornado was reported Wednesday night near Shottsville, Ala., The Weather Channel reported.

The Storm Prediction Center said that there is a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms over the regions affected by the high winds, and an enhanced risk over the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley regions. Parts of the Southern Plains and the mid-South can also see excessive rainfall on Thursday, when two to four inches of rain is possible.

Parts of central and south Texas are also under a red flag warning, meaning that critical fire weather conditions are occurring now or will begin shortly. Strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures can contribute to “extreme fire behavior,” the NWS stated.

This slate of thunderstorms is expected to come just a week after millions of residents across 22 states were under winter weather advisories, causing thousands of power outages across states.