The agency classified the tornado as an EF1. Storms could contain hail and gusty winds north of the warm front. The tornado watch has been cancelled early for areas west of Interstate 95.
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– Gov. John Bel Edwards is urging residents to keep their phones on, charged and near them overnight so they can receive weather warnings from emergency officials.
The northern and central parts of the state are under a high-risk alert, which the governor says is an extremely rare classification.
We’re setting up for another round of strong and possibly severe thunderstorms as we start the month of April. Gardner said the potential for a tornado, though, will linger.
“Seconds later it hit”, Higgins said.
Higgins said 38-year-old Francine Gotch and 3-year-old Nevaeh Alexander were pronounced dead at the scene.
“Unfortunately, as we get rid of this storm it looks like we will just reload”, he said. Primary severe elements include hail, damaging wind and there is a threat should severe storms develop to produce a tornado.
The weather agency warned that it was a “particularly unsafe situation” in Louisiana, which the governor noted was a rare high-level warning.
Corrects girl’s first name to Nevaeh, not Neville.
Rain is also possible in the morning on what will be a windy, cool Friday – high of 49 with gusts as high as 21 miles per hour.
Sunday, expect a 50 percent chance of showers before 1 p.m., the weather service said. The National Weather Service warned that severe thunderstorms “capable of strong tornadoes, extensive wind damage and very large hail” were forecast Sunday into Monday from eastern Texas to the Gulf Coast area.
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The preparations come as the National Weather Service Office in Morristown predicts that potentially severe storms could impact much of East Tennessee tonight. Rotation should be limited with height, but speed shear should generate enough rotation to make tornadoes a risk for a large area as rotating supercells and small bow echoes become possible, particularly over the lower Ohio Valley.
