What to know about the deadly storm system that socked U.S.

At least 42 people are dead after a weekend of dynamic storms unleashed tornadoes, blinding dust and wildfires – leaving behind uprooted trees and flattening hundreds of homes and businesses across eight U.S. states in the South and Midwest.

Weather forecasters gave an unusual "high risk" designation to the storm system, which began Friday before tapering off Sunday. For now, people in the affected communities are surveying damage as some brace for more potentially damaging weather.

Missouri lost the most lives in the storm and tornadoes, with 13 reported killed. Mississippi saw six people killed by tornadoes.

Wildfires or high winds were blamed for four deaths in Oklahoma, including a person who died in a car crash due to poor visibility and an individual whose remains were found in a burned home.

Vehicle crashes caused by dust storms killed eight in Kansas and three in Texas. Alabama and Arkansas each reported three.

The storm also killed two boys, ages 11 and 13, when a tree fell on their home in western North Carolina on Sunday, according to firefighters.

There was a significant outbreak of tornadoes, with a preliminary count of 46 on Friday and 41 on Saturday, said a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Two strong tornadoes tore through the same Mississippi county roughly within an hour of the other on Saturday, according to the weather agency.

The twisters had preliminary ratings of EF-2 and EF-3, out of a rating scale of 0 to 5, and caused devastating damage in Walthall County, in far southern Mississippi, and in Tylertown.

Wind-driven wildfires caused extensive damage in Oklahoma and officials in both Oklahoma and Texas warned that parts of both states would again face an increased risk of fire danger this week.

More than 130 fires were reported across the state on Friday and over 400 homes were damaged.

Dust storms spurred by high winds resulted at least 50 vehicles crashing on a highway Friday, killing at least eight people, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. Authorities said three people also died in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle.

The National Weather Service said weekend tornado watches had mostly expired, but dangerous winds were still possible in the Carolinas, east Georgia and northern Florida through Sunday.

Another system is moving out of the Rockies and into the Plains in coming days. The threat of winter weather picks up on Tuesday into Wednesday in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan, with significant snow and wind bringing hazardous conditions.

To the south across portions of the Plains there will be drier air, bringing fire weather risk.

(Cover: New fires burn several miles west of Stillwater, Oklahoma, U.S., March 17, 2025. /VCG)