Dreary weekend ahead: Southeast, mid-Atlantic states brace for thunderstorms

After the central U.S. was battered by tornadoes and volatile weather earlier this week, the Southeast is facing severe weather Friday.

"Explosive severe weather is set to continue as hail, tornadoes, flash flooding and damaging wind gusts will threaten communities across the Southeast," said AccuWeather meteorologist Jessica Storm.

A large swath of the U.S. extending from the Southeast to the mid-Atlantic is expected to be affected by a low pressure system with thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service.

This area most at risk extends from southeastern Louisiana northward to Kentucky and eastward to the I-95 corridor, according to AccuWeather. Parts of Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia are expected to see a more moderate threat of severe weather.

The Southeast may also see a few scattered tornadoes with southern Virginia and northern North Carolina facing the greatest risk, as well as upstate South Carolina through west-central Georgia and east-central Alabama, AccuWeather said.

Rainfalls of up to 3 inches could also cause scattered flooding in these areas, the weather service said.

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By Saturday, the threat of severe weather will fade as the low pressure system makes its way off the mid-Atlantic coast, according to the weather service. But dreary weather, including overcast skies, gusty winds and occasional rain, will linger in parts of the Northeast through the mid-Atlantic over the weekend.

The storms are expected to be less intense than those that tore through Texas and Oklahoma earlier this week, where multiple people were injured and buildings damaged, including a school, homes and a marijuana farm.

Previously:'Large and dangerous' tornadoes hit Texas and Oklahoma

Two confirmed tornadoes were reported in Texas on Thursday, both in Rusk County, where one in Mount Enterprise, a small town in east-central Texas, caused "multiple injuries," according to the weather service. 

Seminole, about 60 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, also reported significant damage as Gov. Kevin Stitt toured the area Thursday. 

Meanwhile on Wednesday, a "large and dangerous tornado" that caused winds speeds of up to 165 mph was also reported in Lockett, a rural community about 170 miles northwest of Dallas, according to the National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma. While several homes and barns saw extensive damage, there were no significant injuries or deaths in the county, Sheriff Brian Fritze told KAUZ-TV.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.

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