Numerous Violent Thunderstorms Striking Southeast

Many in the Southeast will witness ominous-looking skies this afternoon. Photo submitted by AccuWeather.com Facebook fan Michael G. on Friday of storms rolling into Terre Haute, Ind.

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

Mar 24, 2012; 11:18 AM ET

The same storm system that sparked Friday's deadly tornadoes in the Ohio Valley and Deep South threatens to leave communities damaged in the Southeast into tonight.
As of 3:30 p.m. EDT, numerous violent thunderstorms were rumbling across southwestern Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Baseball-sized hail from one of the thunderstorms in southwestern Virginia broke windows of a home at Groundhog Mountain along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
In South Carolina, quarter-sized hail covered the ground of some homes near Salley.
Hail will remain one of the main threats from the thunderstorms into tonight. Damaging winds, flooding rain and isolated tornadoes are other serious concerns.
Later this afternoon, these thunderstorms should congeal into a more organized squall line across the Piedmont region of the Carolinas and neighboring southern Virginia.
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Cities set to be targeted by the squall line later this afternoon include Charlotte and Winston-Salem, N.C., Columbia, S.C., and Danville, Va.

The squall line will shift to the coastal plain of the Carolinas this evening, passing over Raleigh, N.C., in the process. Charleston, S.C., Rocky Mount, N.C., and Norfolk, Va., are other cities at risk through the overnight hours.
Where damage does not ensue, rain accompanying the thunderstorms will be a welcome sight to the drought-stricken Southeast.
"However, this is not the type of system that will bring lasting relief," cautioned AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
"The rain will produce some runoff which will be captured by reservoirs and lakes, but much more is needed."
While numerous damaging thunderstorms rumble to the east, residents in the Tennessee Valley should also keep an eye to the sky today. The stage is set for a few thunderstorms to turn severe with powerful winds and hail.
A similar danger will linger across eastern North Carolina on Sunday as the potent storm slowly pushes offshore.
Dry weather will replace the severe weather threat across the East Coast on Monday. The danger will instead exist across the northern Plains this day as the storm impacting California this weekend emerges from the Rockies.

Numerous Violent Thunderstorms Striking Southeast