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Dangerous tornado outbreak heads to the South: Latest forecast

A dangerous tornado outbreak is headed to the South, where intense, long-track tornadoes reaching EF-3 or higher are possible Friday evening.

A radar-confirmed "large and destructive" tornado was located around 8:22 p.m. CT about 12 miles northeast of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, moving northeast at 50 mph, the National Weather Service said late Friday.

The NWS issued emergency warnings for several towns in the northwest part of the state, including Midnight and Silver City.

Damaging winds and large hail are also a threat all the way to Tennessee and Indiana, as is flash flooding, which could stretch from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania.

The storms were expected to start up in eastern Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas Friday afternoon and then strengthen in the evening along the Mississippi River from Louisiana to Mississippi to Memphis.

PHOTO: A tornado outbreak is forecast for March 24, 2023 in the South. (ABC News)
PHOTO: A tornado outbreak is forecast for March 24, 2023 in the South. (ABC News)

To the north, along the Ohio River Valley, Friday thunderstorms could spark several inches of rain and flash flooding.

The same storm system will bring snow from Iowa to Michigan on Saturday morning. This storm will then move into the Northeast on Saturday, bringing rainy, windy and chilly conditions.

MORE: Strongest tornado in 40 years rips through LA area

The severe weather system has been deadly; two men drowned after their car was swept away by floodwaters in southern Missouri Thursday night, as the storm made its way through the Midwest.

According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol incident report, 19-year-old Alexander Roman-Ranelli and 20-year-old Devin Holt were among six people in a car that was "swept downstream by fast moving current" in rural Wright County.

The four others were found uninjured and were rescued from the water, the report said.

ABC News' Will McDuffie and Daniel Amarante contributed to this report.

Dangerous tornado outbreak heads to the South: Latest forecast originally appeared on abcnews.go.com