At least three people have died as a powerful system of storms sweeps across the a wide swathe of the central and southern of the United States, with another three killed in vehicle crashes as blinding winds whipped through Texas and Oklahoma.
From the southern Plains to the Midwest an estimated 138 million people are at risk of severe weather, with tornado warnings issued in parts of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee.
The storm system has left buildings in ruins, wrecked power supplies, and intensified more than 100 wildfires.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said on X that a tornado had caused two deaths in the Bakersfield area in Ozark County, with reports of multiple injuries. It posted pictures of wrecked and ruined buildings, and a smashed up car on the roadside.
Another person died in Butler County, on Missouri's border with Arkansas, after a mobile home was hit by extreme weather on Friday night, the county's rescue services told NBC News.
Butler County Emergency Management said the number of fatalities there may rise, with the search and rescue operations at the site ongoing.
In the Texas Panhandle, three people were killed by car crashes caused by a a dust storm on Friday, according to Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Cindy Barkley. She said that the crashes were in the Amarillo area, and blamed high winds and low visibility.
Millions remain at risk as the storm carves a path through the region.
More than 300,000 customers are without power across the Midwest and South, according to PowerOutage.us, an organization that aggregates live power outage data.
Nearly half a dozen tornadoes were reported in Missouri alone.
Tornadoes were reported to have ripped down trees and power lines in the state, according to the National Weather Service, and NBC affiliate KSDK of St. Louis reported that businesses were damaged and tractor-trailers were overturned.
Tornadoes were also reported in Arkansas and Mississippi. The reports are unconfirmed; storm survey teams typically determine later whether tornadoes actually occurred. The weather service for Jackson, Mississippi, shared a photo on X of what was said to be a large wedge tornado north of Cruger.
Footage circulating on social media and verified by NBC News showed the mangled remains of a fuel station outside a 10Box store in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
Other photos posted by the Missouri Highway Patrol showed storm damage in Rolla, Missouri, around 95 miles southwest of St. Louis, and to a bus barn in Dixon.
Strong nighttime tornadoes at EF2 on the tornado strength scale, defined by sustained winds of 113 to 157 mph, are possible from southern Iowa to Jackson, Mississippi.
The worst of the system is also threatening damaging winds and hail into Saturday. Hail the size of baseballs was reported in Christian County, Missouri, on Friday night, the weather service said.
Widespread tornado, severe weather risk
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe declared a state of emergency on Friday as the state prepared for the front’s unstable air overnight. The declaration will allow state resources to reach local governments quicker, his office said.
“I urge all Missourians to stay alert, monitor weather forecasts, and follow official warnings,” he said.
Florissant, Missouri, Mayor Timothy Lowery told KSDK that “we’ve got a lot of damage” in the city, including to many houses. A tree also fell on landmark restaurant Hendel’s, the station reported.
“So, tonight’s been, I’ll say a very horrible night here in the city of Florissant,” Lowery said.
Police in St. Louis warned late Friday that there were reports of vehicles getting trapped in high water, and urged people to “Turn around don’t drown!”
Tornado watches were issued for parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee until at least 3 a.m. CT, with some watches extended until 5 a.m.
A tornado outbreak across the central Gulf Coast states into the Tennessee Valley was also likely late Saturday. Significant tornadoes were possible in eastern Louisiana, in Mississippi, and in Alabama.
Strong winds and fires in Texas, Oklahoma
In Texas, blowing dust blinded drivers with deadly consequences, officials said.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Cindy Barkley said Friday that there were three fatal crashes in the Amarillo area due to high winds and low visibility. The number of deaths was not immediately clear.
One person died and two others were injured in a crash between three semis and four other vehicles in Palmer County, said Cesar Marquez, city manager and fire chief in Bovina. It was not clear if the crash was included in the three in the Amarillo area.
There was “so much blowing dirt we were getting shocked every time we got near something,” Marquez said.
Parts of northern Texas saw gusts as strong as 62 mph, according to National Weather Service data.
Potter County Fire-Rescue reported four roads were restricted or closed after separate incidents in which big-rigs had “flipped.” The county in the Texas Panhandle includes the northern half of Amarillo.
“Visibility is poor at best and zero in places,” the agency said on social media. “If you don’t have to be out, please stay where you are.”
The dust was not the only concern. The same system whipped up wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma on Friday as the low pressure system moved east.
The largest of the state's six active wildfires, the Windmill Fire in Roberts County, grew from 500 to 18,000 acres in less than a day, according to Texas A&M Forest Service. The blaze was 50% contained Friday night.
The Rest Area Fire in Gray County marched across 4,500 acres on Friday, but its expansion stopped by early evening, Texas A&M Forest Service said. Firefighters had achieved 30% containment by the end of the day, it said.
Texas A&M Forest Service said on Thursday conditions may be right for a Southern Great Plains Wildfire Outbreak, a dangerous weather formula based in part on low humidity and gusty wind, though such an outbreak was not officially declared by Friday afternoon.
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Multiple fires were burning in Oklahoma on Friday night.
Gov. Kevin Stitt urged residents covered by mandatory evacuations in Mannford, a city in the northeastern portion of the state were wildfire raged Friday night, to "leave now."
Mandatory evacuations were also in effect for parts of Norman, where multiple wildfires were burning, according to the Norman Police Department.
Mandatory evacuations in the city of Stillwater were expanding late Friday, with locations including a Walmart and multiple hotels, and cover "several square miles."
The winds have apparently also helped fuel multiple structure fires in the city, and firefighting reinforcements are en route, it said in a statement.
The National Weather Service office in Norman said earlier that "a dangerous wildfire outbreak" was underway, later identifying blazes near Chickasha, Chandler, Camargo and Leedey; and near Lake Carl Blackwell, where residents were urged to evacuate. There was also one in Lincoln County, where evacuations were ordered north of the town of Meridian.
Weather system to shift east
The low pressure system is affecting the southern and northern reaches of the nation's midsection as it pushes eastward, promising upheaval into the eastern U.S. through the end of the weekend.
As it moves into the Eastern Seaboard on Sunday, the tornado threat will shift to Virginia and Carolinas.
On the northern side of the front, including the upper Midwest and the northern Plains, blizzard conditions were forecast for the weekend, with 8 inches of snow possible in some regions.
The new week was expected to bring even more winter storm action when at least two more low pressure systems march eastward, the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center said.
The first of the two would likely form a solid, counterclockwise winter storm, a process the weather service calls cyclogenesis, it said. It will likely bring snow to the interior, including the Midwest and Great Lakes, with a second storm likely to bring a fresh wave of snow, rain and thunderstorms to a stretch of the nation from the Rocky Mountains to the Upper Midwest mid- to late-week ahead of the first day of astronomical spring on Thursday.
