Storms pummel US, killing a toddler and injuring others as more severe weather is expected

At least one person was killed and several others were injured in a series of powerful storms that pummeled the Midwest and mid-Atlantic regions on Wednesday, damaging homes, uprooting trees and snapping utility poles as a dayslong stretch of severe weather marches on.

Potential twisters were reported in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan through Wednesday afternoon and into the overnight hours, according to the National Weather Service.

A storm with winds of 90-95 mph sent a tree crashing into a home in Livonia, Michigan, just west of Detroit, killing a toddler and hospitalizing the boy's mother and her 2-month-old infant in the afternoon, reported the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Firefighters worked for nearly an hour to lift the tree with high-pressure air bags from where it crashed through the home's roof onto the mother and her 2-year-old son as they slept, authorities said. The child was pronounced dead at the scene as his mother was taken to Livonia Trinity Hospital in critical condition.

More:There have been a lot of tornadoes this spring. Here's why.

"The city of Livonia extends its heartfelt sympathies to the family after the death of their 2-year son," said Livonia Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan in a statement. "This is a terrible tragedy for our community. Our hearts are broken, too, and we send our deepest sympathies."

Storms and possible tornadoes injured at least five people in Maryland who were trapped in a home in the Gaithersburg area, about 20 miles northwest of Washington D.C., authorities said. In nearby Baltimore, multiple homes were damaged in at least one suspected twister.

On Thursday, the weather service sent out four survey teams across nine counties in West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia to investigate damage and determine whether tornadoes had touched down. In Maryland alone, the weather service received over a dozen reports of tornadoes.

Connor Belak, a meteorologist at the weather service's Baltimore-Washington office, said most the damage was limited, with toppled power poles and trees being the main concerns.

What made the storms notable were the conditions that combined and ultimately led to the formation of tornadoes throughout the mid-Atlantic, Belak said. A warm front draped across the Potomac River fueled wind shear and instability, which, when combined with remnants of an east-bound storm system, triggered the storm outbreak across Maryland, Virginia and the West Virginia border.

"This was not your run of the mill severe weather event" for the mid-Atlantic, he said.

A suspected tornado tore through Frazysburg, Ohio, a small village about 60 miles east of Columbus, packing streets with debris, leaving people with minor injuries and leading local authorities to set up an emergency shelter at a local elementary school, according to the local police department, which asked people to stay home unless absolutely necessary. The National Weather Service reported tornado sightings in Knox County, Ohio, but the damage isn't considered extensive, reported the Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Severe weather in forecast for the Northeast, southern Plains, Florida

Strong storms are expected to develop across the country on Thursday, bringing heavy rain and flood concerns to the southern Plains and mid-Atlantic regions, as well as the Florida Peninsula.

Damaging gusts of 60-70 mph are forecast for western Oklahoma and the eastern Texas Panhandle, where the most intense conditions are expected, the weather service's Storm Prediction Center said. Isolated wind damage is possible from New York to the Carolinas, while central and eastern Florida faces 55-65 mph wind gusts and potentially damaging hail.

Coastal flood advisories were in effect across Baltimore and New York throughout the morning as meteorologists with the weather service warned of rising waterways and flooding across low-lying areas. The poor weather in the Northeast is forecast to mostly clear out on Friday.

"New Yorkers should expect a period of heavy rain and thunderstorms sometime late tonight through the Thursday morning commute," the city's Department of Emergency Management said on X. "This may result in minor flooding across the city, particularly in low lying and poor drainage areas. Plan ahead & expect travel delays."

'It came and went very fast'

Lisa Allen, a resident of Livonia, Michigan, said she'd been checking forecasts all day, then suddenly heard the tornado coming.

"It came on very suddenly" at about 3:30 p.m., Allen told the Detroit Free Press. "Then I said, 'I better get in the basement,' and no sooner did I – I didn't even make it to the basement – and it was over. It came and went very fast," she said.

Allen had large tree branches down in her front yard and a trampoline flipped upside down in her backyard. She said she recalled surviving high winds at her house about 15 years ago, and "today was a little stronger."

Livonia Emergency Preparedness Director Brian Kahn confirmed, on the city's website, that Livonia officials did not receive any warning of the tornado's approach from the National Weather Service. The weather service referred to it as "a spin-up storm" that did not appear on radar screen with enough time to issue a warning to Livonia.

Hardest hit were neighborhoods in Livonia, where dozens of large trees were felled by the storm that later swept with diminished force across metro Detroit's northern suburbs.

As of Thursday morning, nearly 15,000 utility customers across were without power across Michigan, according to a USA TODAY outage tracker. The majority of outages were reported in counties throughout the southeast region of the state, including nearly 7,000 in Wayne County, which encompasses southern Detroit.

– Jenna Prestininzi, Detroit Free Press

Extreme heat scorches California, Southwest

While the central and eastern U.S. is dealing with strong thunderstorms, much of the West Coast, from California's Central Valley to southern Texas faces another day of scorching temperatures.

Afternoon highs of over 100 degrees and, in some area, over 110 degrees, were forecast across California, much of which was under excessive heat advisories as the weather service urged people to avoid laborious outdoor activity, according to the weather service.

The threats stretched across a vast swath of the West. In Utah, dangerously hot conditions with high temperatures from 104 to 108 degrees were expected Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, parts of Nevada could see temperatures as high as 114 and 116 degrees. Southern Texas, which has been scorched by unseasonably hot conditions for weeks, is forecast to receive triple digit temperatures through the afternoon, including in El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley.

The weather service urged people to stay hydrated and to make sure they check their vehicles before leaving them unattended, as interiors could reach lethal temperatures in just minutes.

National weather radar

Contributing: Detroit Free Press