Americans across the southern United States are next in line for the threat of another outbreak of damaging storms heading into the weekend. AccuWeather meteorologists warn that people living in states from Texas to Georgia could be at risk for severe weather from late Friday night through Saturday night as a storm system progresses eastward.

Seven preliminary tornadoes were reported with the storms that erupted on Wednesday and Wednesday night, four of which occurred in Louisiana and caused damage to homes, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center (SPC). Dozens of incidents of damaging wind gusts, along with a few incidents of hail, stretched from eastern Texas northward to southern Wisconsin.

On the southwestern side of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a tornado caused damage to homes and at least one injury. According to the NWS, the tornado was given a preliminary rating of EF0 and had wind speeds as high as 85 mph.

An EF0 tornado with maximum winds of 75 mph touched down briefly in Hancock County, Mississippi, moving northeastward and creating a .7 mile-long path with a width of 50 yards.

Remnants of the storms from Wednesday night pushed through the Interstate 10 and 20 corridors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle on Thursday morning.

As storms rolled through the New Orleans area early Thursday, a tornado warning was issued due to some indication of rotation on radar. While no tornado was confirmed, storms dumped between 2.40 and 2.70 inches of rain on the Big Easy in four hours.

By Thursday night, storms with big hail erupted over portions of central and eastern Texas, causing significant damage to vehicles. Hail as large as baseballs was reported in College Station.

Many of these same areas will be in the crosshairs of a new round of severe weather for the end of the week.

Areas extending from the southern Appalachians to the central Gulf coast are at risk for severe weather, according to AccuWeather Senior Storm Warning Meteorologist Eddie Walker.

The main threats from these storms in addition to flooding downpours are likely to be damaging wind gusts and hail.

The storms are expected to erupt near the edge of a zone of very warm air that could lead to some daily record highs being challenged in Texas on Friday. Temperatures are projected to climb into the 80s and 90s F over a broad area of Texas. A few locations, such as San Antonio, may come within a few degrees of 100 F.

“There is the potential for a derecho event during Friday night from parts of northeastern Texas and eastern Oklahoma to portions of Louisiana and Arkansas,” AccuWeather Lead Storm-Warning Meteorologist William Clark said. Should a derecho unfold, its path may eventually take it through Mississippi and Alabama early Saturday morning.

A derecho is a swift-moving complex of thunderstorms that produces extensive wind damage over hundreds of miles.

“With a fresh influx of Gulf of Mexico moisture in the form of humid air, combined with wind energy at the middle layer of the atmosphere associated with the approaching disturbance, the ingredients are there for severe weather from late Friday through Saturday,” AccuWeather Senior On-Air Meteorologist Justin Povick said. https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=ADL4348958722

The coverage and intensity of severe weather may hinge on the amount of sunshine available.

“Part of the atmospheric environment on Friday and Saturday may be strewn with clouds that limit daytime heating in part of the area at risk for severe weather, but where the sun breaks out, tall storms can erupt and pack a punch,” AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said.