Severe thunderstorms, including a few tornadoes, tore through the south-central United States Sunday night and will threaten the Deep South on Monday.The necessary ingredients for thunderstorm development came together Sunday night as a cold front collided with the warm, moist air in place across the southern Plains.Thunderstorms exploded from southern Kansas to central Texas late Sunday evening and expanded as they moved eastward later Sunday night.The storms congealed into a powerful line of thunderstorms, or squall line, as the night progressed.This squall line will continue to sweep eastward through southern Missouri, Arkansas, northwestern Louisiana and eastern Texas into Monday morning. “The main threats with these storms will continue to be damaging winds, large hail and even isolated tornadoes,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert said.Just after 9 p.m. CDT, a confirmed tornado caused damage near Dallas, Texas. About half an hour later, over 50,000 customers were without power in Dallas County, Texas, according to PowerOutage.US.Residents in Springfield, Missouri; Little Rock and Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Tyler and San Antonio, Texas, and surrounding communities may want to consider taking such a precaution.Since the severe thunderstorms will be ongoing before and during Monday morning’s commute, it is a good idea to keep cell phones charged with the volume turned up and severe weather alerts enabled. This will allow you to be notified if a severe thunderstorm or tornado is heading for your community before you wake up.Commutes around Memphis, Tennessee; Jackson, Mississippi; and Monroe, Louisiana; may be slowed as the stormy weather pushes through during the morning hours.Straight-line wind gusts up to an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 70 mph can toss around loose outdoor items, such as lightweight furniture or fall decorations, that are not brought inside or secured beforehand.Tree damage and power outages can also occur in such winds.The thunderstorms will move along at a quick enough pace to limit concerns for flash flooding.Later on Monday, the severe storms will shift into a portion of the Deep South.The line of thunderstorms will remain intense as it crosses through Mississippi, Louisiana and southern Tennessee on Monday afternoon.Residents from New Orleans to Birmingham, Alabama, and Nashville, Tennessee, should be prepared for potentially violent weather during the afternoon commute.Although the threat for tornadoes will be less on Monday than what it was on Sunday night, there is the still the potential for one or two tornadoes, especially in the western half of the threat zone.Drier, cooler air will sweep in from west to east across the South behind the thunderstorms, aiding any cleanup operations that may be needed. Download the free AccuWeather app to see the latest forecast and advisories for your region. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
