Dangerous severe weather sweeps across South from monster winter storm, spawning tornadoes

The winter storm bringing heavy snow and ice to parts of the Midwest is also producing severe weather to parts of the South and Southeast on Wednesday, threatening tornadoes and damaging wind gusts.

The area of greatest concern covers large portions of southern Mississippi and Alabama from Hattiesburg to Montgomery, which has been raised to a Level 3 out of 5 threat.

At least one tornado was spotted moving through Columbia, Mississippi, where cameras captured the funnel touching the ground.

The local police department warned residents to seek shelter ahead of the damaging storm but has not said if there were any injuries associated with the twister.

"That's going to be what we believe to be the tornado here in Columbia. You're looking back toward between Broad Street and Church Street around East Avenue. Law enforcement for now is reporting that there is some kind of debris in the tornado. Boy, that's not a huge one, but I gather it has dropped down after entering into the town," said Columbia Mayor Justin McKenzie.

Resident Cody Stevens says the tornado came too close for comfort as it came through the town of less than 6,000 people.

According to Findenergy.com, less than 200 customers were without power in the Columbia area on Wednesday afternoon, with a great concentration of outages near the Mississippi River. 

"We are asking for the public to stay away from the Lake View area at this time. First responders and power company need to be able to help those in need and access damage," the Marion County Sheriff's Office stated.

Further east in Thomasville, Alabama, the NWS office in Mobile issued a Tornado Warning and called the event a "Particularly Dangerous Situation."

Radar detected debris being lifted more than 15,000 feet in the air, which is usually a telltale sign of a powerful twister.

After the storm, damage was reported in nearby Coffeeville in the form of downed trees and utility lines.

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Severe weather forecast

A Tornado Watch is in effect for parts of southwestern Alabama, southern Mississippi and southern Louisiana until late Wednesday evening. 

The strength of these storms will depend on how many develop earlier in the afternoon. Greater storm coverage would deplete atmospheric energy and reduce the nighttime threat, according to the FOX Forecast Center.

The severe weather threat lessens heading into Thursday morning, with southern Alabama, southwest Georgia and the Florida panhandle around Tallahassee, being the areas of greatest concern.

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Flash flood concerns across a swath of the Southeast

Heavy rain fell on Tuesday from Texas to North Carolina. Between 1–4 inches of rain were recorded and minor flooding was reported in northern Alabama.

Photos from the Florence, Alabama police department show road closures due to flooding after multiple rounds of rain.

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The greatest risk for flash flooding covers parts of the interior Southeast from Alexandria to Asheville, North Carolina, which is still recovering from the damage left behind by Hurricane Helene.

The Atlanta metro area is also included in this Level 2 out of 4 threat for flash floods. 

Multiple inches of rain are expected to fall from portions of Louisiana through southwest North Carolina from Wednesday afternoon into the evening. 

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A brief pause in the rain is expected on Friday before another potential winter storm moves into the region this weekend.

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