Tornado risk follows record warmth in central US

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Midwesterners who had briefly swapped puffy coats for sandals and shorts switched back Tuesday as balmy conditions gave way to severe storms that carried a risk of tornadoes, freezing rain and, later, snow.

Record high temperatures across a swath of the central U.S. were being followed by thunderstorms and strong winds from Texas to Alabama and as far north as Michigan.

The temperature in the central Missouri college town of Columbia reached 77 degrees on Monday, a record for January, and students exchanged their winter coats for shorts and flip-flops as freezing rain gave way to spring-like conditions. Foul weather made a quick return, however, with a Tuesday downpour that flooded some streets near the University of Missouri campus. Early morning snow was expected Wednesday.

In Cape Girardeau, temperatures climbed into the mid-60s on Monday and hit 70 just before 3 p.m. Tuesday. Both highs fell short of the record. Severe storms were expected across Southeast Missouri and the surrounding region Tuesday night.

Chicago residents also have been whiplashed by recent weather extremes. Workers who suffered through subzero temperatures and brutal wind chills a week ago strolled through downtown without coats Tuesday as temperatures soared into the mid-60s. Women wore skirts over bare legs, and joggers were in shorts and T-Shirts.

"When I woke up this morning I was shocked by it, but it's Chicago," said Anne Sunseri, 30, who went out for a break from her job at a legal recruiting firm in just a light leather jacket. "You never can really expect what the weather's going to be. It just fluctuates so much recently, and I don't feel like it used to be that way."

Carol Krueger, who lives in the Chicago suburb of North Hoffman Estates, noted that just a few days ago she was struggling to drive through blowing snow. All she needed Tuesday was a light jean jacket, although by Thursday temperatures were barely expected to reach 20 degrees.

"It's bizarre, it's scary," Krueger said of the swiftly changing weather. "I don't know if God has anything to do with this or what."

The rapidly changing conditions created a risk of tornadoes, and the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said the threat was greatest in northeast Texas, northern Louisiana, northwest Mississippi, southeast Missouri and much of Arkansas. The system was expected to hit much of the eastern United States on Wednesday.

On Monday, the National Weather Service predicted a "moderate" risk of severe weather more than 24 hours out, only the fifth time it had done so in January in the past 15 years, said Gregory Carbin, the director of the Storm Prediction Center.

A system pulling warm weather from the Gulf of Mexico was colliding with a cold front moving in from the west, creating volatility.

"We expect many reports of damaging winds before the night is out, as well as tornadoes," said Bill Bunting, operations chief for the Storm Prediction Center.

The nation has had its longest break between tornado fatalities since detailed tornado records began being kept in 1950, according to the Storm Prediction Center and National Climatic Data Center. The last one was June 24, when a person was killed in a home in Highlands County, Fla. That was 220 days ago as of Tuesday.

The last day with multiple fatalities was June 4, when three people were killed in a mobile home in Scott County, Mo.

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Associated Press writers Tammy Webber in Chicago and Kelly P. Kissel in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.

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Alan Scher Zagier can be reached at http://twitter.com/azagier