United States

Frenchie Russell overlooks the remains of her tornado damaged home in Clinton, Miss., Friday, April 15, 2011. Russell and her husband were home when the tornado hit in the morning and destroyed the house as well as others in her neighborhood. Tornadoes struck several communities in Mississippi and Alabama on Friday, causing extensive damage, multiple injuries, and seven fatalities. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes tore across Mississippi and Alabama on Friday, causing extensive destruction and claiming the lives of more than half a dozen people.

This was after the same storm system spawned deadly tornadoes across Oklahoma and Arkansas late Thursday and Thursday night, while near blizzard conditions raged across areas farther north in the Plains.

The Associated Press reports that the death toll from this severe weather outbreak has climbed to 16 across Oklahoma, Arkansas and Alabama. Seven people were killed by the ferocious storms in Alabama alone on Friday. Several others have been seriously injured.

A mobile home was tossed across an Alabama state highway on Friday, killing a man inside.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency across the entire state. A total of 14 counties in Mississippi were declared a state of emergency.

Details on the Tornadoes

There was a total of at least 100 tornado reports across the nation on Friday with most of them across Mississippi and Alabama, but a few in other states, including Louisiana, Illinois and Missouri.

Tornado reports are often higher than the actual number of tornadoes, since one tornado may be reported multiple times. At least of few of the tornadoes were large, devastating and long-tracking.

One of the large tornadoes touched down near Jackson, Miss.

The tornadoes leveled homes and businesses, tore the roofs off of many structures, and snapped scores of trees in their paths.

Some of the heaviest damage and largest loss of life occurred in Linden, Ala., and near Prattville, Ala. Geiger, Ala., was also ransacked by very dangerous and destructive thunderstorms that are suspect of spawning a tornado.

The first race at the Talladega Superspeedway on Friday was postponed until Saturday morning due to the severe weather threat.

Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski was concerned Friday morning about severe weather pummeling Talladega for the second year in a row. Nasty thunderstorms erupted around the area during the afternoon hours with a tornado being reported on Highway 77 from a Talladega Rescue Squad.

Besides producing destructive tornadoes, the thunderstorms also pummeled the Mississippi Valley with high wind gusts up to 70 mph and hail the size of softballs or 4.25 inches in diameter.

Severe Storm reports from the SPC on Friday, April 15, 2011. The red dots indicate tornado reports.

Weather Pattern for Severe Storms

The volatile severe weather outbreak was ignited by a powerful storm system that has shifted from the central Plains to the Great Lakes over the past couple of days. Abundant moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and wind energy were in place to set the stage for the extremely violent thunderstorms.

"Two big factors are leading to a more active severe weather season than normal so far and compared to last year," said Expert Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity.

One is that the water in Gulf of Mexico is warmer than last year. This means that there is very warm, moist air in supply for storm systems to tap into and provide fuel for severe weather.

The second is that we are in one of the strongest La Nina patterns in recorded history.

"The strong La Nina pattern means that tremendous contrasts in air masses, with cool and dry air to the north and warm and steamy air to the south, are occurring over the Mississippi Valley. This puts many highly populated areas in the path of dangerous severe weather," added Margusity.

Fortunately, the weather will be dry with sunshine over the weekend, allowing residents of tornado-ravaged communities from the southern Plains to the Deep South to clean up with no weather-related problems.

The next round of severe weather may unfold early next week, starting with some strong storms firing up in the central Plains late Monday afternoon.

AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Heather Buchman has more information on Saturday's tornadoes in the Carolinas, as the same system that brought the destruction to Mississippi and Alabama headed farther east.