10 reported tornadoes hit Arkansas, Louisiana as severe storms continue to sweep across country

The South will be rocked by severe weather one week after 23 deaths.

March 10, 2019, 3:42 AM

A week after tornadoes killed 23 people in Alabama, 10 reported twisters touched down in parts of Arkansas and Louisiana Saturday, as severe weather continued to sweep across the country.

One tornado was reported in Prairie County, Arkansas, while another was observed in Hosston in Caddo Parrish. Strong wind gusts caused across the entire state of Arkansas -- with some reaching 60 mph in some areas.

The National Weather Service confirmed en EF-1 tornado touched down Saturday morning outside Little Rock with peak winds of as much as 110 mph. Two people were injured when the storm struck Toltec, Arkansas, at 10:23 a.m.

A tornado damaged home is shown as President Donald Trump flies above en route to Auburn, Ala., Friday, March 8, 2019. More storms are expected in the South on Saturday.
AP

A few homes in nearby Keo, Arkansas, were also damaged by an apparent tornado.

Only minor injuries were reported.

A tornado watch was issued for Saturday afternoon in Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee, however.

A tornado is pictured near Slovak, Ark.
Stephanie Prislovsky via Storyful

Storms had already produced wind gusts approaching 80 mph in western Texas early Saturday morning with at least 23 reports of damage.

New winter weather advisories have been issued for parts of the Northeast as well.

The view of the destruction caused by a massive tornado in Beauregard, Ala., March. 08, 2019.
Shealah Craighead via ZUMA

Heavy snow will move through the Dakotas during the morning hours on Saturday and will reach into Minnesota and Iowa during the day. Snowfall rates will reach 1 to 2 per hour locally, with gusty winds.

Additionally, severe weather will quickly intensify and organize Saturday morning through parts of the South with rather robust cells forming mainly in Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri. Strong damaging winds, hail and a possible tornado are all possible.

A storm is developing in the central U.S. on Saturday morning.
ABC News

However, as the front moves into parts of Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky during the day, there is a possibility for tornadoes during the middle of the day and early afternoon. If tornadoes develop, some could be strong. The threat is highest in the enhanced risk region from western Alabama to southern Illinois.

Severe storms are possible in the South on Saturday afternoon.
ABC News

Meanwhile, heavy snow will spread farther into the Upper Midwest Saturday night, including parts of Wisconsin. Heavy rain will develop from Chicago to Cincinnati as the storm slides east. The severe weather threat in the South will diminish substantially during the Saturday evening hours.

On Sunday morning, precipitation will be moving toward the Northeast. It could initially start out as a burst of snow before sunrise with snowfall rates of 1 inch per hour from Minnesota to New England.

Tornadoes, hail and damaging winds are all possible, especially in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi.
ABC News

Warmer air should quickly move in and change the snow to rain across much of Northeast. Accumulations should remain pretty limited from New York to Boston. However, there could be a couple of spots inland from Hartford, Connecticut, to Springfield, Massachusetts, to Albany, New York, that have a decent chance of picking up 2 to 4 inches of snow. In some of the more rural and elevated parts of New England 6 inches could quickly accumulate Sunday. Meanwhile, snowfall totals in parts of Minnesota could exceed a foot of snow locally.

Heavy snow will move into Upstate New York and northern New England on Sunday.
ABC News

The storm is also pulling up warmer air from the tropics into parts of the southern U.S. Temperatures will briefly be at least 10 degrees above average ahead of the cold front Saturday in the South and then locally 10 to 20 degrees above average in parts of the Southeast on Sunday.

The brutal cold air does not make a strong return in the wake of this storm in the coming week. Another fairly potent storm, with another severe weather threat, looks to develop for the middle of the week and will likely bring a similar temperature set up to much of the central and eastern U.S.

Snowfall will be heaviest in Minnesota, with a few inches also possible in northern New York and New England.
ABC News

All of this a sign that the atmosphere in the Northern Hemisphere is responding to more direct sunlight as we head toward the official start of spring.

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