More than 50 million people from Mississippi to western New York are under a slight risk Monday of receiving damaging wind, large-sized hail, flash flooding and a few tornadoes.
Storms were already rolling through east Texas and Louisiana early Monday morning, prompting a severe thunderstorm watch. Storms are forecast to continue to move through the South, with the severe weather extending through Monday afternoon.
A cold front spanning the East from western New York to the Gulf Coast is expected to produce strong to sever storms Monday afternoon and into the evening.
A flood watch is also in place for parts of central and western New York, including the cities of Syracuse and Rochester, where 1 to 3 inches of rain could fall in a short span of time through Monday evening and could lead to flooding of rivers, streams, and other low-lying areas.
Overnight, there were more than 240 damaging storm reports from Texas to Virginia, including reports of large-sized hail, destructive wind and a few tornadoes.
Hail the size of grapefruit was reported on Sunday near Amarillo, Texas. Thunderstorms accompanied by wind gusts up to 90 mph swept across the Texas panhandle, causing widespread power outages.
A local state of disaster was declared Sunday by the mayor of the City of Canyon, Texas, a suburb of Amarillo, due to “significant storm damage” caused large-sized hail across the city.
More than 200 homes in the City of Canyon were damaged by hail that also left numerous vehicles with shattered windows, ABC affiliate station KVII in Amarillo reported.
Severe weather damage was also reported in the Dallas suburb of Bonham, Texas, where high winds partially ripped the roof off an ice cream store, according to ABC Dallas affiliate station WFAA.
One person was killed in Lafayette County, Mississippi, on Saturday when a tree fell on a vehicle during a storm, according to Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves. Multiple tornado warnings were issued across northern Mississippi on Saturday.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said one person was also killed in Georgia on Saturday night. The Georgia Emergency Management said the fatality occurred in Banks County when a tree fell on a vehicle.
Meanwhile, the west was dealing with extreme heat over the weekend that broke daily high-temperature records on Sunday in Seattle, which reached 90 degrees, and Portland, Oregon, which hit 96 degrees.
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The hot weather is forecast to continue throughout the West through at least Tuesday.
Record high temperatures are possible on Monday in Oregon, including the cities of Portland, Eugene and Medford. Spokane, in northeast Washington, and Boise, Idaho, could also break high temperature records on Monday.
Las Vegas will be under an extreme heat warning on Monday and Tuesday with temperatures expected to reach 110.
At Death Valley National Park in Southern California, known as one of the hottest places in the world, temperatures could approach 120 degrees this week.
