Holiday Damper: Storm Over Southern US With Tornado Risk

Christmas and New Year in mid-South United States could turn gloomy this year due to a severe storm threat. Parts of the country's south are set to experience severe weather including tornadoes over the next few days, the weathermen have warned.

USA Today reports stormy winds in Arkansas killed one person on Wednesday. A tornado watch has been set up from Louisiana to Illinois. The Storm Prediction Center has issued a moderate risk warning for severe storms in mid Mississippi River Valley, which some said was rare in December.

"An outbreak of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes is forecast today into tonight from the Ohio Valley into the Tennessee and lower Mississippi Valleys. The greatest risk for a few intense, long-tracked tornadoes will exist over western Tennessee into northern Mississippi and eastern Arkansas this afternoon into tonight," NOAA's storm prediction center said.

Meanwhile, ABC News reports that heavy rains in Mobile, Alabama left streets flooded and stranded morning rush. The storm could shift east and after it clears, high temperatures could be experienced in the region.

"Helping to fuel the severe weather will be a new surge of warmth that will bring record high temperatures to a number of locations in the eastern part of the nation into the Christmas holiday," Accuweather, the online weather forecast service, said.