Tornado Watch Issued For 7 States

Tornado watches have been issued across areas in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and Alabama.

Severe weather is hitting parts of the country again, with possible tornadoes in at least seven states.

A watch, in place until 8:00 a.m. CDT, in Arkansas covers Ashley and Chicot, while in northeast Louisiana it covers East Carroll, West Carroll, Franklin, Madison, Richland and Tensas.

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Meanwhile, the notice in central Mississippi applies to Attala, Choctaw, Holmes, Humphreys and Yazoo.

In northeast Mississippi, Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha are under watch with Bolivar, Sunflower and Washington covered in the northwest. Elsewhere in the state, the watch is in place for Claiborne, Jefferson, Issaquena, Sharkey and Warren.

A watch in Kentucky is in place until 6:00 a.m. EDT for the four counties of Martin, Harlan, Letcher and Pike.

Map showing which parts of the U.S. could see tornadoes. The NWS has put watches in place for several states.

National Weather Service

This includes the cities of Coal Run, Cumberland, Elkhorn City, Harlan, Inez, Jenkins, Pikeville, South Williamson and Whitesburg.

In Virginia, the county of Dickenson, which includes the city of Clintwood, is under a tornado watch.

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A different watch, until 5:00 a.m. CDT covers the 14 Tennessee counties of Bedford, Giles, Lewis, Perry, Wayne, Coffee, Grundy, Marshall, Van Buren, White, Cumberland, Lawrence, Maury and Warren.

In Alabama, a tornado watch is in effect until 8:00 a.m. CDT for Blount, Dekalb, Jackson, Lawrence, Marion, Walker, Colbert, Fayette, Lamas, Limestone, Marshall, Winston, Cullman, Franklin, Lauderdale, Madison and Morgan.

The same watch covers Catoosa, Dade and Walker in Georgia.

These are all watches, meaning the weather conditions are favorable for severe weather—this is different to a warning, which means severe weather is imminent.

Kelly Godsey, senior service hydrologist and meteorologist at the National Weather Service (NWS) in Tallahassee, Florida, previously told Newsweek: “When the NWS issues a severe thunderstorm, tornado or flash flood warning, that’s when you need to take action to get to safety.

“Don’t wait until you see the severe weather approaching your home or business, seek shelter when the warning is issued. And have a plan before the warning is issued to know a safe place where you can get to protect yourself and others in your family.”

The National Weather Service (NWS) said in its forecast discussion that severe thunderstorms and areas of heavy rain will impact much of the eastern U.S., with isolated severe weather possible in the southern Plains.

“Dangerous heat remains in place this Memorial Day throughout southern/central Texas, the Western and central Gulf Coast, as well as southern Florida before some gradual relief by midweek.

“Unsettled weather and thunderstorms return to the Southern Plains on Tuesday, as well as the northern Great Basin and northern Rockies.”

Forecasters went on to warn about possible tornadoes and intense thunderstorms when they wrote: “The severe weather threat includes a broader region extending from the lower Great Lakes to the southeast, with damaging wind gusts and hail the primary hazards, with isolated tornadoes possible in the eastern mid-Atlantic.

“As the cold front extends westward toward the Southern Plains, a few isolated severe thunderstorms are also possible in parts of central and eastern Texas.”

It comes after tornadoes killed at least 18 people and caused catastrophic destruction in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky over the weekend.

Seven died in Texas, eight in Arkansas, two in Oklahoma and one in Kentucky.