Updated at 6:08 p.m. ET : A woman was killed Friday when her mobile home rolled over during a severe storm in southern Illinois, authorities said.
Jefferson County, Ill., Coroner Eddie Joe Marks said Pat Brown, 61, was killed and a teenage boy suffered minor injuries when Brown's home toppled as heavy rain, hail, winds and possible tornadoes swept through the Opdyke area. It wasn't immediately clear whether a tornado hit the home.
The National Weather Service reported at least six confirmed tornadoes and relayed reports of numerous other unconfirmed twisters as storms moved across southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois and western Kentucky.
Joe Sullivan, a meteorologist with the weather service, told the Weather Channel that the damage was consistent with a tornado with winds of 110 mph or even higher.
No casualties were immediately reported in the Kentucky storms, Jody Johnson, a spokeswoman for Louisville MetroSafe, told NBC News.
Even before Friday's tornadoes, 2012 was off to an unusually active beginning of tornado season.
Greg Forbes, a severe weather specialist for the Weather Channel, said 117 tornadoes had been confirmed this month through Thursday, well above the 10-year March average of 87. January and February were also above their 10-year averages.
"Keep in mind we are only at the beginning of the tornado season," Forbes said.
The peak months for tornadoes are usually April, May and June, and "while we do not know exactly how active the rest of the tornado season will be, you should make sure you are prepared," he said.
The Weather Channel: Tornado risk by month and location
John Baiata, Ioanna Dafermou, Naima Lynch and Ziad Jaber of NBC News contributed to this report by M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com.
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