Communities across the southern United States awoke Monday morning to a deadly outbreak of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.
At least 27 tornadoes were report over the weekend in five states – Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. Officials said at least 25 people died in Mississippi, where a long-track twister left a path of destruction of about 59 miles. There was at least one storm-relate to death in Alabama, where officials said a man dies of his injuries when he was rescue by first responders.
President Joe Biden approved disaster aid for Mississippi on Sunday.
The same storm system will linger in the Southeast on Monday, bringing damaging winds, large hail and the threat of isolated tornadoes, according to the latest forecast from the National Weather Service. Parts of southern Georgia and South Carolina will be in the eye of the storm, including the cities of Columbus, Savannah and Charleston.
Central Georgia, including Macon, will remain under watch until 11am ET on Monday. Parts of Alabama and Georgia, which have already received up to 7 inches of rain, are also under a flood watch and flash flood warning.
Another storm will hit the West Coast Monday evening, bringing heavy rain and winds along the coast and heavy snow in the mountains. The heavy rain is expect to arrive in the San Francisco Bay Area on Tuesday morning, but the gusty winds are expect to start on Monday. In parts of Northern California, local rainfall amounts of 2 to 5 centimetres could be possible.
Meantime, the National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for parts of the Sierra Nevada in north-california, where localized snow accumulations of 2 to 4 feet are possible over the next few days.
These storms will move across Texas and Oklahoma on Thursday, bringing further severe weather. On Friday, a major outbreak of severe weather with the threat of tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail could hit areas from Texas to Wisconsin.
In the meantime, late-season winter storms may affect regions farther north, from the Dakotas to Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.