By KWMU/AP
St. Louis, MO – Possibly severe weather is headed to St. Louis this morning (Thursday).
*As of 7:55 a.m., there is a tornado warning in effect for northeastern Franklin County, St. Charles County, and St. Louis County. Radar had indicted a strong storm near Villa Ridge, heading for Wildwood, Chesterfield, Clarkson Valley, and Maryland Heights.
A tornado watch remains in effect for the KWMU listening area until noon. A long list of counties are included in the watch, including St. Louis City and County, as well as St. Charles, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison and St. Clair Counties.
The National Weather Service says as the storm moves east through Missouri it will carry the potential for tornadoes, large hail and thunderstorms.
In southern Missouri, authorites say tornadoes left damage and reports of injuries in Caulfield, southwest of West Plains.
Four mobile homes, two houses and two service stations are said to have been damaged when the twisters hit at around 6:30 a.m. this morning.
Police say a tornado touched down near an elementary school in Caulfield but the building was not damaged. Trees and power lines are also reporttd down.
Thunderstorms packing tornadoes, hail and heavy rain struck east-central Kansas and west-central Missouri on Wednesday night, causing scattered property damage and closing part of a major highway in the Kansas City area.
The violent weather more typical of spring developed along a cold front that was expected to bring snow to parts of Kansas by Thursday.
No major damage or serious injuries were reported from Wednesday night's storms, but officials in several counties expected to know more after daylight today.
Forecasters tracked one tornadic storm from Greenwood County, Kan., on a northeasterly path to across Anderson County and into Linn County, where a tornado touched down and destroyed a power substation.
David Yates, Linn County emergency management director, said there were reports of "minor, minor injuries" and widespread damage in the form of roofs and siding torn from buildings. Residents in rural Mound City reported seeing a barn demolished.
Across the state line, the tornado touched down again in a field near Adrian, Mo., authorities said. Damage near the Bates County town appeared limited to a destroyed outbuilding and a barn that lost its tin roof.
A separate storm that started farther north in Kansas, in the Ottawa area, also moved rapidly east into Missouri, dropping hail, torrential rain and occasional funnel clouds along the way. That storm took aim late Wednesday at Missouri's Johnson and Pettis counties but forecasters said Whiteman Air Force Base, near Knob Noster, was unlikely to sustain damage.
Interstate 35 in Johnson County, Kan., was closed to southbound traffic near Kansas City late Wednesday as deep water sloshed over the road.