Severe storms produce hail, gusty winds over South
The highest risk of severe weather covered a large swath of the South on Friday, stretching from Alabama to the Carolinas.
Watch: Roaring thunder, lightning in Arkansas as Tornado Warning issued
Video from National Weather Service storm spotter Dylan Atkinson shows rumbling thunder and lightning over homes in Bryant, Arkansas, in the early hours of Friday, January 12.
Thunderstorms produced hail and gusty winds across parts of the South on Friday as the line of severe weather marched across the region.
The storm system producing the severe storms is similar to the event that impacted the region earlier in the week, with some of the same communities under a heightened risk for severe weather.
On the storm system’s northern end, heavy snow and gusty winds led to problems along the Interstate 80 corridor in the Midwest, while severe storms were centered closer to the Gulf Coast.
Hail was reported in West Little Rock and the town of Pottsville in Arkansas on Thursday evening.
The ice appeared to be the size of peas, but where large stones were reported quarter size or bigger was possible.
DEADLY STORMS SWEEP ACROSS SOUTH WITH EXTENSIVE TORNADO DAMAGE
Thunderstorms triggered Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, but there were no reports of funnels touching the ground.
The Storm Prediction Center received around 100 reports of hail and gusty winds from Texas through Mississippi.
So far, half the days of January have had some type of severe weather threat outlined over the Lower 48.
An active start to the year’s severe weather season does not indicate that the entire year will remain active.
El Niño weather patterns are known to produce severe weather outbreaks across Florida and parts of the South during the winter months.