Thunderstorms, lightning and snow: Severe storm system sweeps across southern US, takes aim at Northeast
Severe weather is expected on Easter weekend in Southern states like Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Texas was taking the brunt of harsh storms on Thursday. Lightning struck a major gas line and exploded it near Adkins, just east of San Antonio, according to Fox San Antonio, forcing the evacuation of some residents from their homes. More than 31,800 customers were without power late Thursday night in Texas, according to poweroutage.us.
"There is still going to be some showers and thunderstorms across southern Western Texas (on Friday) that will ramp up as the storm system moves out into the plains Sunday," AccuWeather meteorologist Michael Leseney told USA TODAY.
The storm system is also poised to dump up to a foot of snow on parts of northern New England on Friday. The strongest storms will likely be on Monday, with potentially heavy snow across Wisconsin, in Michigan's upper peninsula and into Iowa, Leseney said.
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More than 285,600 customers were without power Thursday evening, primarily in Maine, Texas and Louisiana, according to poweroutage.us.
Parts of Indiana and Arkansas felt the force of the storm system early Thursday as it moved eastward, bringing strong winds, rain and hail across the Midwest.
In parts of downtown Mooresville, in central Indiana, streets were strewn with bricks and debris after high wind — possibly a tornado — knocked down the second story of a vacant building, The Mooresville Decatur-Times reports.
Indiana’s stay-at-home order amid the coronavirus pandemic likely kept people out of danger as the storms moved through, said Division Chief John Robinson of the Mooresville Fire Department.
“We have some small restaurants downtown here and folks would be in those under normal circumstances. Luckily, because of the virus, everyone was gone. Honestly, that’s sort of a blessing,” Robinson told WXIN-TV.
What's in store for hurricane season 2020: Forecasters expect 'above average' storm activity.
The storms, at one point, had knocked out power to more than 100,000 utility customers in central and southern Indiana.
In Harrisburg, Arkansas, about 105 miles northeast of Little Rock, more than 30 homes were damaged and two people were injured, Jonesboro TV station KAIT reported. Officials were working to confirm whether a tornado caused the damage.
Snow in New England
The heavy snowstorm bearing down on Maine, and parts of northern New England, began with a mix of rain and snow Thursday afternoon, changing to snow as a push of colder air arrives, according to AccuWeather.
“Similar to the pattern from this past winter, Maine and portions of eastern Canada will bear the brunt of snowfall from this storm,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff said.
Contributing: Lance Gideon, The Mooresville Decatur-Times; The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: More severe weather: Thunderstorms in Texas; snow in Wisconsin
