Christmas Tornado Tragedy In Mississippi

It seems the big storm anticipated in the eastern United States is already much worse than many thought it would be.

As the storm gathered steam near the Gulf Coast, pretty much all forecasters expected some severe thunderstorms and maybe a couple of tornadoes.
But today's severe weather was tragically way more intense than anyone anticipated.

As of this evening, at least two people had been reported dead and others injured as tornadoes, stronger than the relatively weak ones that seemed like would develop, blasted across Mississippi.

The deaths and injuries were in Marion County Mississippi, according to early reports by WDAM-TV reporter Megan Hodge.

A tornado ripped the roof off of a day care center occupied by numerous children, but thankfully, none of them got hurt. Adults apparently hustled the kids into safer parts of the building as the tornado arrived.

Tornado watches were still in effect in the Gulf States. There have been nine reports of tornadoes in Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana so far, as of 6:30 this evening.

Tornado damage in Columbia, Mississippi today.
Photo by Chad Farber, via Twitter.  

With the developing storms spawning more severe weather than expected, I have to wonder if the entire storm will be a little more forceful once it moves north into the Great Lakes and Northeast.

I'm certainly not expected any tornadoes in those regions, but the expected strong winds might be a little stronger, and the rain a little heavier than I thought this morning.

I noticed the Storm Prediction Center outlook for a marginal chance of severe thunderstorms in Ohio Christmas Eve and early Christmas Day has been expanded into much of Pennsylvania, the western half of New York and bits of Kentucky and West Virginia.

Western New York is an odd place for severe thunderstorms this time of year, even if the chance if very iffy. You expect lake effect snowstorms, not severe weather around Christmas in those parts.

A strange storm indeed.

The storm has boatloads of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, too. There are flood watches out now for most of Georgia, pretty much all of New England and a chunk of northern New York.

A flood emergency was unfolding in the Florida Panhandle Tuesday evening. The National Weather Service was warning of an "extremely dangerous and life threatening situation" in and around Tallahassee as a deluge continued.

Several water rescues were under way, the National Weather Service said. Some areas in the Florida Panhandle had already received six inches of rain, with another three to four inches expected in the next few hours.

I'm sure there will some more rather dramatic news about this storm by tomorrow morning. And look for more nastiness up and down the East Coast with this one over the Christmas holiday.

And more weirdness. In New England mountainous ski country, the forecast for Christmas is rain and temperatures near 50. Meanwhile, atop the volcanoes in Hawaii, a blizzard warning is in effect.

I'm not kidding.