TORNADO RIPS THROUGH AREA; STORM SYSTEM PRELUDE TO FREEZING RAIN, SNOW

IDALIA, Mo. -- Two-year-old Bradley Lane wondered why a freight train hit his house Tuesday night. His father, Billy Lane, explained that a train didn't smash the front porch; it was a tornado.

A tornado ripped through this small Stoddard County community Tuesday, damaging about half a dozen homes in the area, including the Lanes'. They were standing in the front yard when rain started falling about 6 p.m. They dashed under the glassed-in front porch of their home just as the tornado passed overhead. The windows shattered but no one was hurt.

The twister cut a path east of Bloomfield to the north and east, passing Idalia and Circle City. Trees and power lines were downed and large grain bins were blown into fields. The tornado was part of a strong storm system that moved through Southeast Missouri Tuesday, a prelude to changing weather for the region. Freezing rain and snow are forecast for today and Friday.

Snow accumulation could total 2 to 4 inches, before clearing tonight and temperatures only in the 30s on Friday.

On Tuesday, Brad DeWitt, who lives in a mobile home 2 miles north of Circle City, was visiting a relative in Sikeston when he saw televised reports of the impending storm. He called home and warned his wife, Laurie, that a tornado might be on the way. She sought shelter at a neighbor's home just minutes before the tornado ripped the roof off the mobile home. The twister also flattened their barn.

High winds, heavy rain and hail accompanied the storm.