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South Pelted by Hail, Wind and Lightning; Midwest Facing Severe Weather

A 1,000-mile stretch of the South was battered by a ferocious mix of wind, lightning, and baseball-sized hail in some areas.
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/ Source: NBC News

A 1,000-mile stretch of the South was battered by a ferocious mix of wind, lightning, and baseball-sized hail in some areas on Tuesday.

Wednesday promised similar weather for parts of the Midwest and Plains — with the added threat of isolated tornadoes for parts of Nebraska, The Weather Channel said.

"With this weather coming on April 1, it's a reminder that we are definitely into severe whether season," Weather Channel lead meteorologist Kevin Roth said.

There were more than 100 reports of large hail from Georgia, through Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Oklahoma and into Texas on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The largest hailstones were 2.75-inch in diameter, baseball-sized chunks that pelted parts of Arkansas, Roth said.

"This was pretty big hail: We class anything over 1 inch in diameter as 'severe,'" he told NBC News.

The hail was accompanied by high winds, and more than 13,000 people were without power in Oklahoma alone, the state's largest utility company OG&E said at 3:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET).

A woman was hospitalized after being struck by lightening near Cullman, Alabama, NBC station WSFA reported, citing the local emergency management agency.

After a morning lull on Wednesday, forecasters were predicting similar severe weather from Minnesota to Arkansas. This was due to kick in around the late afternoon and extend to around 11 p.m. local time (midnight ET), Roth said.

"We might see an isolated tornado or two in eastern Nebraska but the threat will not be at the level we saw in Oklahoma last week," he added.

One person was killed and dozens more were injured after the first major tornado outbreak of the year hit parts of Oklahoma City and Tulsa last Wednesday.

- Alexander Smith