Extreme Weather In The U.S. Today: Tornadoes, Floods, Wind, Snow

From @stormchaser4850 via Twitter, a tornado
im Elizabeth City, N.C. turned one house on its
side while barely touching the home next door. 

I probably shouldn't have grumbled when I woke up this Sunday morning in St. Albans, Vermont and found a surprise dusting of snow in my gardens and yard.

Yeah, April 27 is pretty late for snow. A departing storm system brought in some cold air, changing the rain to snow.

But compared to much of the rest of the country, my (rapidly melting) spring snow is no problem.

As has been advertised for days, an outbreak of severe weather will really get going today and continue into Monday and Tuesday.

The storm that will bring tornadoes to the Midwest today
dumped snow in Flagstaff, Arizona over the weekend.
Photo by Keri Miller Boothe, via AZCentral.com  

Already, there were severe thunderstorms in central Oklahoma and Kansas as dawn broke Sunday. That there are such strong, developing storms this early in the day hints at what's to come. Expect to hear news of really bad tornadoes, especially around Arkansas and Missouri later today.

Those really bad tornadoes should reach into the Deep South Monday and Tuesday.  

There were hints the storm causing the expected tornadoes would be strong. Very gusty winds and dust storms hit parts of New Mexico and western Texas. A few severe thunderstorms popped up in central Texas and western Oklahoma.  

Storm clouds over Wichita Falls, Texas Saturday evening,
from @TornadoTitans, via Twitter.  

And Flagstaff, Arizona was hit by a spring snowstorm.

Tornadoes aren't the only hazard with the sprawling storm in the nation's midsection over the next few days. Severe flooding from heavy rain is possible in Mississippi and surrounding areas early in the week.    

Winter storm warnings for heavy snow are up for parts of Colorado and Wyoming.  

The storm system will eventually head east, spreading its severe weather into the southeastern United States.

Where I live in Vermont and in the rest of the Northeast, again, we shouldn't complain. We'll get an extended period of rain and showers starting Wednesday

There could be enough rain to cause some flooding in the Mid-Atlantic states at the end of the week, but there will be just a few days of dreariness more to the north.