NWS: South at risk for severe weather including twisters

 A weather system moving across the country will create the chance for severe storms including tornadoes across the Deep South on Monday, the National Weather Service said. Forecasters said more than 2.5 million people live in an area that faced an enhanced risk from twisters stretching from Louisiana through southern Mississippi into western Alabama. The area includes the cities of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; and Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Another 18 million people from eastern Texas into western Georgia and as far north as the Tennessee-Kentucky line face a greater than normal risk of severe weather, the weather service said.

Forecasters said tornadoes, hail and winds blowing at 70 mph (112 kph) posed the greatest threat as a cold front moves across the region in an easterly direction. Storms that are predicted to begin in the west could last until early Tuesday in the eastern, forecasters said. Several school systems in north and western Alabama cancelled afternoon events and activities as a precaution.