Saturday Evening Update: Death Toll Soars As Tornadoes Maraud Across The South

Large tornado spotted in Mississippi today.
Several large tornadoes were sweeping the
South this afternoon, continuing a deadly
and wide-ranging storm that has spread
destruction from New Mexico to
the Great Lakes and across the South

 The death toll climbed to at least 17 this afternoon as the massive storm that has been tormenting the United States continued unabated this afternoon. 

More deaths will probably be reported as a series of "particularly dangerous" tornadoes plunder across Mississippi and Alabama. 

Overnight tornadoes last night killed at least 11 people in Missouri and left long trails of damage.

The count of actual tornadoes that have already landed is big and growing. So far, 31 tornadoes were confirmed to have touched down Friday, and other damage paths are being investigated for signs of tornadoes.

As of late this afternoon, we have at least 10 reports of tornadoes. 

Also As of late afternoon, a "confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado" was bearing down on the city of Meridian, Mississippi, population 33,500. More potentially big and violent tornadoes were in the forecast well into tonight for Mississippi and Alabama. 

In Oklahoma, we have more assessments of Friday's wildfires. At least 130 wildfires burned in 44 counties in the state, destroying at least 200 homes.

This is just a brief Saturday overview. I'll have much more on this with Sunday mornings post.

Let's next do an update on Vermont's situation.

VERMONT EFFECTS 

For Vermont, it was an incredibly warm for the season, and in some parts of the state, windy day.  The heat, the sun, the wind and the rising humidity has really started a rapid snow melt. My lawn in St. Albans, Vermont was nearly half covered with snow this morning. This evening it's almost gone.

The "Woof River," what I call the small stream that runs by my house, is high and muddy and noisy.

It got to 67 degrees in Burlington today, with wind gusts as high as 48 mph. 

Needless to say, a flood watch remains in effect. Some local small stream flooding could start in spots at any time. But the bulk of any flooding would hit mostly between late Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon.

There's still some lingering ice jams, some of which are starting to shift around now. That could create new ice jams. The (hopefully!) good news is that recent warm weather over the past week has weakened the ice, so it might break up more readily than it it had remained firmly frozen.

The rain that's coming has been postponed a bit to late Sunday afternoon and night. That means, if there' breaks in the clouds tomorrow, we could make it to 70 degrees in at least a few spots.

That Sunday night rain, and all the melting snow should make most rivers in Vermont approach or exceed flood stage. The hope is that the flooding will be relatively minor. That would mean a few blocked roads, some flooded basements and fields that look more like lakes. 

We'll keep our eye on this in case it gets worse than expected.