Experts anticipate that the hailstorms could throw pieces of ice almost six centimeters in diameter

WASHINGTON – A vast region of the southeastern United States, home to some 40 million people, is under a tornado and hailstorm warning today, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

“ Serious and major meteorological events together with storms are expected today in the southern region of the country. Tornadoes with hail and damaging winds are likely in the southern Mississippi Valley, especially from northeastern Louisiana to central Mississippi.

“Some of these tornadoes will be strong and intense this afternoon and overnight,” the agency added.

Weather Channel meteorologist Domenica Davis said these storms will occur in the late afternoon and could cause flooding from Shreveport in western Mississippi to Birmingham in Alabama and Knoxville in Tennessee.

In some places, according to the Weather Channel, hailstorms could throw up chunks of ice nearly two inches in diameter.

NWS meteorologist Chad Entremont said strong storms are expected in central Mississippi with winds up to 60 miles per hour.

“There is currently a moderate to high risk of tornadoes in the Jackson (Mississippi) area,” he added. “We can expect golf ball-sized hail with chances of rain and flooding.”

Severe weather conditions, according to the Weather Channel, will continue overnight from the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama in the Gulf of Mexico, as far south as Ohio.

The authorities have recommended that the population make sure they have various means of receiving information, including cell phones and applications that keep them up to date with reports from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Conditions for the strongest storms will ease Wednesday, forecasters said, but they still warned isolated tornadoes and gales could occur from the Gulf Coast to Georgia and western South Carolina.

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