January 9, 2024 - Winter storm slams central and eastern US

Bay County, Florida, Emergency Management Services reported “significant damage” as severe weather, including tornadoes, pass through the Florida Panhandle.

The county said the Grand Lagoon Bridge is closed due to debris in the roadway and Bayway transit services were suspended.

Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford urged people to take cover.

“We’ve had multiple tornadoes on the ground, primarily in the county … numerous reports of damage; we’ve rescued people out of structures,” Ford said in a video posted online, encouraging residents to shelter in a safe space inside their homes.

Photos shared by the Panama City Police Department showed trees fallen across roads and onto driveways, plus collapsed fences in the St. Andrews area.

A widespread winter storm has knocked out power to nearly 300,000 customers across the eastern half of the US as of 8:45 a.m. ET Tuesday morning, according to poweroutage.us.

The winter storm is bringing blinding snow, tornadoes and winds gusting over 50 mph from the Plains to the East Coast. The South has the most power outages on Tuesday morning, where a strong line of thunderstorms is moving through. 

This storm will continue to push eastward and is likely to cause more power outages as it reaches the high population areas of the East Coast, where the ground is also saturated and high winds are expected.

These are some of the top outages by state:

An additional 50,000-plus customers are without power across the Pacific Northwest, where a second winter storm is impacting the region. Washington has about 42,000 customers without power and Oregon has about 10,000 customers out.

Widespread wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph are likely across much of the central and eastern US as a massive, multi-faceted storm reaches its full strength Tuesday.

More than 160 million people across the US are under wind alerts, and the Weather Prediction Center warned them to "prepare for power outages."

Severe storms aren't driving these strong, prolonged winds — it's the impressive strength of the storm, which is an area of low pressure, and how it interacts with a strong area of high pressure located off the northeastern coast of the US.

The atmosphere is exerting pressure on all of us. The force of that pressure is lower under areas of low pressure and higher under areas of high pressure, hence the names.

As the storm gets stronger, its pressure drops and it creates a stronger gap in pressure between it and the high pressure, known as a pressure gradient.

The speed of the wind is related directly to the strength of the pressure gradient because it squeezes the air that moves through it, forcing it to pick up speed. Think of it like popping bubble wrap: Once it’s squeezed hard enough, the plastic pops and the air quickly rushes out.

The strength, duration and widespread nature of winds on Tuesday and Tuesday night in this pressure gradient are likely to bring down trees and cause power outages.

Several tornadoes have been reported this morning in the Florida Panhandle as a strong line of thunderstorms moves through the area.

National Weather Service meteorologists reported a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” near Panama City just after 5:30 a.m. CT (6:30 a.m. ET).

"This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION," the weather service added.

The tornado continued to track northeast, passing near Lynn Haven, Florida, shortly before 7 a.m. ET.

"To repeat, a tornado is on the ground. TAKE COVER NOW!" the weather service warned.

Social media videos from the area at that time appear to show a strong waterspout moving onshore as well as damage after the storm passed.

NWS meteorologists continue to track the storm, which is confirmed to still be producing a dangerous tornado near the town of Marianna, passing Interstate 10.

At least five tornadoes have been reported in the last couple of hours, according to data from the Storm Prediction Center.

A new tornado watch is in effect until 2 p.m. ET for portions of southeastern Alabama, the eastern Florida Panhandle to northern Florida, and southern Georgia, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

This watch covers over 2 million people and includes Tallahassee, Panama City and Lake City in Florida, Dothan in Alabama, and Albany and Valdosta in Georgia.

A strong line of storms, with potentially tornadic circulations and damaging straight line winds up to 75 mph, will sweep eastward across the watch area through the remainder of the morning into early afternoon.

Over 40 million people across the Southeast are at risk of severe storms today. A Level 3 of 5 risk of severe storms covers much of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas on Tuesday, where tornadoes and damaging winds are possible.

High winds continue to impact much of the central and southern US, which has increased power outages to over 244,000 customers, according to poweroutage.us. 

Here the states with the highest power outages as of 7:15 a.m. ET:

More than half the US population is currently under wind alerts that cover almost all of the South and extend into the Northeast. The bulk of the high wind alerts across the Southern Plains will begin to expire through the day on Tuesday but will largely last into Wednesday for much of the eastern US. 

A powerful storm packing nearly every winter weather threat is making its way across the central and eastern US today.

When staying indoors during cold temperatures or a winter storm, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers these tips:

And if you must go outside, the CDC and National Weather Service have some recommendations for staying safe while venturing outdoors during a winter storm,

Read more about how to stay safe during winter weather.

Intense storms are moving through portions of Florida and Alabama early Tuesday morning, unleashing torrential rainfall, strong winds and even a few tornadoes. Multiple tornado warnings were issued in each state during the predawn hours Tuesday.

Downtown Mobile, Alabama, was under at least two separate tornado warnings early Tuesday. But the threat has since shifted east into the Florida Panhandle, where at least one confirmed tornado moved through Freeport, Florida, on Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, Florida.

The damaging storms capable of producing tornadoes will continue to develop and form into a cohesive line of dangerous storms throughout Tuesday morning. This formidable line of storms will track east and unload severe weather across other portions of the Southeast Tuesday afternoon and evening.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency on Monday ahead of the severe weather that is expected to impact the state today.

"This storm system has the potential to bring high winds and other dangerous storm conditions to North Carolina, and people should be aware and take precautions,” Cooper said in a news release.

The storm threat is expected to increase into Tuesday afternoon.

“The severe weather threat has increased with numerous severe storms capable of producing damaging wind gusts and tornadoes possible Tuesday afternoon through Tuesday night, especially in the eastern half of the state,” the news release noted.