Missouri tornado kills five as turbulent weather lashes US
A tornado in the US state of Missouri has killed at least five people, local authorities have said, as the country continues to reel from deadly weekend weather.
The Storm Prediction Centre said up to 40 million people from Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit to Memphis, Tennessee, were at risk for storms on Wednesday, with the greatest threat from lower Michigan, across the middle to lower Ohio River valley and into the mid-South.
Wednesday’s severe weather was the third in a series of massive storms over the last two weeks that have spawned dozens of tornadoes, mainly in the South and Midwest, killing at least 63 people.
Sergeant Clark Parrott of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said : "The damage is pretty widespread. It’s just heartbreaking to see it."
He added that a search and rescue operation involving multiple agencies was underway and that crews had to use chainsaws to cutback trees and brush to reach some homes.
The damage was concentrated around the small rural communities of Glen Allen and Grassy, which are separated by a hunting area, said Bollinger County Sheriff Casey Graham in a Facebook post announcing the five deaths.
On Twitter, the Missouri State Highway Patrol tweeted: "The Patrol is assisting Bollinger County and multiple local agencies in search and recovery efforts after a tornado in the Glenallen area.
"Injuries and fatalities are confirmed."
The storms come after severe weather and possibly dozens of tornadoes killed at least 32 people days ago, meaning more potential misery for those whose homes were destroyed in Arkansas, Iowa and Illinois.
The fierce storms started last Friday and continued into the weekend spawned deadly tornadoes in 11 states as the system plodded through Arkansas and onto the South, Midwest and Northeast.
Schools in Little Rock cancelled Wednesday's classes because the storms were expected to move through the metro during morning rush hour, KFVS-TV reported.
At least two tornadoes were confirmed on Tuesday in Illinois as storms targeted the state and eastern Iowa and southwest Wisconsin before nightfall.
The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings in Iowa and Illinois on Tuesday evening and said a confirmed twister was spotted southwest of Chicago near Bryant, Illinois.
Officials said another tornado touched down on Tuesday morning in the western Illinois community of Colona. Local news reports showed wind damage to some businesses there.
Earlier on Tuesday, strong thunderstorms swept through the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois with winds up to 90mph and hail the size of a cricket ball.
No injuries were reported, but trees were downed and some businesses were damaged in Moline, Illinois.
Northern Illinois, from Moline to Chicago, saw 75-80 mph winds and hail two to three inches in diameter on Tuesday afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Baker said.
The agency received reports of semitrucks tipped over by winds in Lee County, about 95 miles west of Chicago.
The same conditions that fueled those storms - an area of low pressure combined with strong southerly winds - were setting up the severe weather on Tuesday into early Wednesday, said Ryan Bunker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Centre in Norman, Oklahoma.
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Those conditions, which typically include dry air from the West going up over the Rockies and crashing into warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, are what make the US so prone to tornadoes and other severe storms.
Dramatic temperature changes were taking place, with Tuesday highs of 23C in Des Moines and 30C in Kansas City plunging overnight to 4C or colder overnight.
In Little Rock, Arkansas, Tuesday’s high of 32C tied the record for the date set in 1880.
A blizzard warning was in effect for nearly all of North Dakota and most of South Dakota through at least Wednesday night. In Minnesota, a winter storm warning was in effect in the north.
Fire danger persisted across portions of far western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, northeastern New Mexico and far southeastern Colorado, with low humidity, dry vegetation and high wind gusts.
In Oklahoma, officials urged some residents near the town of Weatherford to evacuate because of a wildfire.