More severe weather expected Today in southern US, 3 killed in Ohio

Southern US will face another round of strong storms on Friday.

That system that brought the severe weather Thursday will drop into the Southeast and Southern Plains on Friday. The overall severe threat will decrease compared to Thursday as the available atmospheric energy drops compared to the days prior, but some severe storms will be possible during the afternoon across the Deep South.

Thursday night’s storms left trails of destruction and injuries or deaths in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas. Tornadoes were also suspected in Illinois and Missouri.

As the extent of the destruction came into focus Friday, it appeared the worst hit was the Indian Lake area in Ohio’s Logan County, northwest of Columbus. At least three people died there, and Sheriff Randy Dodds told NBC’s “Today” show that cadaver dogs would be brought in to help find more.

“The (Friday) morning hot spot is going to be Mississippi, and Alabama will have to look out for that this afternoon, but the action is there right now, too,” said FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin. “Texas, although we have thunderstorms this morning in progress, that threat is really for after dinner time.”

NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center just upgraded parts of South Texas, including San Antonio, into a Level 3 out of 5 severe weather risk.

Storms will initially be discrete supercells capable of producing hail potentially baseball-size or larger. A tornado or two may be possible should individual storms persist east of I-35, along with damaging wind gusts of 60 mph or more.

At least 3 people were killed in Ohio and about 40 people were injured by a suspected tornado in Winchester, Indiana, officials said. There were no known fatalities in Indiana as of Friday morning.

In Arkansas, a suspected tornado struck the retirement community of Hot Springs Village, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Little Rock, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Erik Green.

Over 300 reports of severe weather were recorded Thursday, including eight tornadoes in Ohio, Indiana and Texas. Additionally, over 200 reports of hail, with the largest hail measuring 4.5 inches in Oklahoma, and more than 100 reports of damaging wind gusts were reported, the FOX Forecast Center said.

There were unconfirmed reports of tornadoes in Jefferson County, Missouri, and Monroe County, Illinois, but no immediate reports of damage. Large pieces of hail also was reported in parts of the St. Louis area Thursday afternoon.