Tornado Watches issued as widespread severe weather threat disrupts early summer plans for millions

Severe storms persist into weekend for Plains, South and Southeast

Severe storms remain ongoing and are expected to continue to pose problems throughout Friday from the Southern Plains to the Southeast. The overall pattern supports multiple opportunities for severe storms through Saturday and potentially into early next week. 

LUBBOCK, Texas – A pattern that shows no signs of relaxing is producing strong to severe thunderstorms through the weekend and well into the upcoming workweek, with only slight variations from day to day.

On Friday, many of the areas that were impacted by severe storms on Thursday saw an additional round of thunderstorms, with Tornado Watches that lasted into the evening. 

During the height of the activity, nearly 5 million residents were underneath Tornado Watches, which included the city of Lubbock, Texas, which was hit hard by tornadic supercells on Thursday.

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Lubbock wasn't the only area that saw significant weather - a severe thunderstorm in Arkansas spun up a damaging tornado in Van Buren. Emergency managers reported at least 50 structures sustained damage in a neighborhood.

Tornado damage in Van Buren, Arkansas.

(Joshua Mannion / FOX Weather)

A tornado-warned storm was caught on a traffic camera as it swept through Fort Smith, Arkansas as the line of storms pushed east Friday morning. 

Tornado-warned storm sweeps through Fort Smith, AR

A tornado-warned storm was caught on a traffic camera as it swept through Fort Smith, AR on Friday morning. 

An apparent tornado was spotted by police Friday morning near Vian, Oklahoma as a tornado-warned storm moved through Sequoyah County.

The storms were strong enough to rip down trees and close local roads in Luther, Oklahoma, according to the fire department.

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Apparent tornado looms near Vian, OK Friday

An apparent tornado was spotted near Vian, OK on Friday morning as tornado-warned thunderstorms swept through the area.

An apparent tornado was spotted by police Friday morning near Vian, Oklahoma as a tornado-warned storm moved through Sequoyah County.

The storms were strong enough to rip down trees and close local roads in Luther, Oklahoma, according to the fire department.

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During the next several days, storms are expected to develop daily in the afternoons and evenings, with leftover energy driving some thunderstorm formation in the overnight hours. The threat is expected to gradually move east as the weekend progresses.

"It's like all of this action has been riding the [Interstate]-40 corridor and the I-40 corridor has been the focus of all the action this entire week," FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said.

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Severe storms bring weekend flash flood threat for Southern Plains, Deep South

Tropical moisture from the Gulf will enhance severe storms through the weekend, meaning that they will be able to produce lots of rain in a short amount of time. 

Rain rates have the potential to easily exceed 1 inch per hour at times.

Storms Friday morning produced enough rain to cause flash flooding in Ada, Oklahoma.

Severe storms trigger flash flooding in Ada, Oklahoma

Severe thunderstorms caused flash flooding in Ada, Oklahoma (Video Credit: @mattellis1233/X).

Although the storms are expected to move at a decent pace, the setup may allow some areas to experience repeated rounds of heavy rain. This "training" effect—where storms repeatedly form over the same locations, could lead to totals exceeding 3 inches, and possibly as high as 5 inches by the time it's all over. 

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