Tornado alerts issued as intense storm sweeps Texas and the South

A satellite image of thunderstorms hitting the Southern Plains and Mississippi Valley on Thursday evening, with white dots showing lightning detected by satellite. Image: CIRA/RAMMB.

Tornado watches were issued for millions of people in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, as an intense line of storms passed through on Thursday evening, bringing damaging winds of up to 75 mph.

The big picture: The storm system caused widespread power outage in Texas and at least one tornado was confirmed in Louisiana — as threats of heavy rains, flash floods and severe thunderstorms stretched across the Southern Plains, Lower Arkansas Valley, Lower Mississippi Valley, Tennessee Valley, Ohio Valley and Southeast from late Thursday into Friday.

Threat level: Hail as large as three inches as well as an isolated embedded tornado were possible in North and Central Texas Thursday evening, the National Weather Service's Fort Worth office warned.

• Destructive straight line winds of up to 80 mph were also expected to continue as the storm moved into the Dallas metro area, where a tornado watch was issued.
• Residents were told that if they get phone alerts and hear sirens, it's for wind speeds as strong as a weak tornado and they should seek shelter.

Of note: In the McKinney suburb of Dallas, four tractor-trailers were overturned on a highway, police said. Minor injuries were reported.

Zoom out: The storm line comes just days after a severe storm system unleashed powerful winds and triggered tornado warnings for Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

By the numbers: More than 345,000 people were without power in Texas as of 9pm Thursday ET, per Poweroutage.us.

Editor's note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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