Millions in path of deadly storm bringing fierce winds, blizzard conditions and tornado warnings

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By Mary Gilbert, Taylor Ward, Artemis Moshtaghian and Phil Gast, CNN

(CNN) — A mammoth and multifaceted storm is slamming the eastern half of the United States with powerful winds, blizzard conditions and severe thunderstorms for the second consecutive day.

The near-record strong March storm reached the East Coast early Wednesday after delivering deadly thunderstorms and whipping up choking dust and fast-spreading wildfires in the central and southern US Tuesday.

Here’s the latest:

• Potent thunderstorms reach the East: Some storms prompted early morning severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings in parts of the Carolinas. Some of Wednesday’s strongest storms will bring damaging wind gusts and tornadoes to the Carolinas and Virginia into the afternoon.

• Storm turned deadly: At least two people are dead in Mississippi’s Madison County after severe thunderstorms swept across the state on Tuesday. Coroner Alex Breeland told CNN one person was electrocuted and another died when a tree fell on a car.

• Damage left behind: Violent storms left a trail of damage behind in the South and Plains on Tuesday. An EF1 tornado tore through a community in Ada, Oklahoma, on Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Images on social media showed toppled structures and widespread destruction. Ada’s tornado was one of at least eight EF1 tornadoes that hit parts of Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana. A warehouse partially collapsed near the Dallas area as thunderstorms also damaged roofs, tore down power lines and left debris scattered in nearby towns.

• Widespread power outages: The storm’s powerful wind gusts, severe thunderstorms and snow have knocked out power in more than 20 states. More than 400,000 homes and businesses were in the dark across the central US, the Southeast and parts of the Midwest early Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us. More than 100,000 of them were in Texas.

• Fires prompt evacuations in two states: Dozens of fires broke out across Texas Tuesday amid a serious fire risk across a large portion of the state. The Welder Complex Fire erupted in Sinton Tuesday afternoon, burned multiple structures and forced evacuations, CNN affiliate KRIS reported. High winds in Atascosa County resulted in several house fires Tuesday afternoon, law enforcement officials said. The fire risk decreased on Wednesday but lingering strong wind could cause issues for any blazes in progress. Wildfires also prompted evacuations in Tennessee. Evacuations were lifted in Sevier County Wednesday morning but remained in place in Monroe County.

• Blizzard conditions: Heavy snowfall and gusty winds brought blizzard conditions to parts of the Midwest overnight. Blowing snow created whiteout conditions in parts of Iowa early Wednesday morning, making travel “very dangerous,” the Iowa State Patrol warned. “We have cars stuck all over the place,” the sheriff’s office in Dallas County, Iowa, posted on social media Wednesday. Blizzard warnings remain active for parts of Iowa, Minnesota and Michigan. Gusts of 50 to 70 mph roared in the region overnight and Wednesday morning. On Tuesday afternoon, the same storm brought blizzard conditions to western Kansas, where the city of Hugoton recorded a wind gust of 93 mph.

• Dust storms rage: The sky over Dallas on Tuesday resembled a Martian landscape as winds kicked up red dust. It was the second consecutive day a disruptive dust storm raced through parts of the state.

Hazardous weather continues

Nearly 10 million people in the Carolinas and southern Virginia are under a level 3 of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms Wednesday, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Storms in this area could unleash damaging wind gusts in excess of 75 mph and tornadoes, though the tornado threat is less significant than it was Tuesday.

The damaging storm threat doesn’t stop there.

More than 29 million people from Florida to Pennsylvania – including Washington, DC, and Baltimore – are under a lower threat — level 2 of 5 — of severe thunderstorms. Damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes are possible within these storms.

Heavy rain will drench areas north of where severe thunderstorms rumble. It isn’t expected to cause widespread flooding concerns, but cities such as Philadelphia, New York City and Boston could see some flash flooding, especially in low-lying and poor drainage areas.

Strong wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph will blow over much of the eastern half of the US Wednesday. These persistent winds could hinder power restoration efforts or bring down additional trees and power lines.

Blizzard warnings will expire for the central US and the Midwest by Wednesday afternoon, where snowfall totals of 4 to 8 inches and gusts to 65 mph are possible from eastern Nebraska to southern Minnesota. Across parts of Wisconsin and northwestern Michigan, winter weather alerts are in place until early Thursday, where snowfall totals over a foot and gusts to 45 mph are possible.

Much of the storm’s precipitation will come to an end Thursday, but gusty winds will persist in its wake.

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CNN’s Robert Shackelford, Hanna Park, Joe Sutton, Gene Norman, Dawn Sawyer, Sara Smart, Karina Tsui, Zoe Sottile, Jeremy Grisham and Chris Boyette contributed to this report.