Hail, Winds, Heavy Rain Batter Midwest

A major storm bearing high winds, hail and heavy rain battered the Midwest on Friday, while tornadoes skipped through North Texas and Arkansas.

“This is a major storm. It’s dominating most of the central portion of the U.S. and portions of the East, too,” forecaster Paul Dailey said of the storm that hit parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri. “By the time this storm develops, it’s almost going to dominate the weather over the eastern two-thirds of the country. It’s really a major low pressure system.”

In Kentucky, a house and barn were damaged when a possible tornado struck three miles south of Clay in Webster County. The Kentucky State Police reported no injuries.

Hail was reported in a number of Indiana sites, and windows were shattered by large hail in Newburgh, Ind.

High winds downed power poles in Robinson and Crawford, Ill., during storms that produced large hail, weather forecasters said. Heavy rain drenched central sections of the state.

Officials in Ft. Worth were investigating whether strong winds were a factor in the collapse of an 80-foot light pole that killed two tourists who were seated near the Texas city’s Water Gardens, a downtown tourist attraction.

Tornadoes were reported early Friday in Hunt County, Tex., and in north central and eastern Arkansas, but no damage or injuries were reported. Tornado watches were posted in parts of Texas and Arkansas, but the storm system was rapidly moving east.

The storms pushed east with torrential rains accompanying almost continuous lightning in parts of southern Illinois and western Kentucky. A band of thunderstorms was reported 30 miles southwest of Paducah, Ky.