Severe pre-Christmas weather menaces central, southern United States

(Reuters) - One person was killed as severe storms menaced the southern and central United States on Wednesday, pelting a region home to tens of millions of people with heavy rain and hail, while states from Louisiana to Illinois were under a tornado watch. The bad weather threatened to scramble plans for many holiday travelers, even as dreams of a white Christmas melted in northeastern parts of the country, which were experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures. An 18-year-old Arkansas woman died and a toddler was injured when a tree crashed into her house after being uprooted by powerful winds during a storm, according to emergency officials. A tornado sighting was reported in Clarksdale, Mississippi, near the Arkansas border, the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center website said. Possible tornado damage was also reported near Indianapolis, Indiana. Meanwhile, the agency said it received reports of hail as large as golf balls falling in parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Oklahoma. "If there’s one location under the gun at the moment, it’s Memphis and points north,” said Greg Carbin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Carbin said travelers in Tennessee and Ohio were likely to experience some weather-related delays on Wednesday evening. Travelers in Atlanta and New York City could also be frustrated by rain that could extend into Thursday, Carbin said. Storms and rain could continue through Christmas Day, he said, but it will not be as intense as Wednesday. (Reporting by Karen Brooks and Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Writing by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Fla.; editing by Grant McCool)