Chris Sisemore kept his eyes open as a rare but deadly winter tornado plucked him from his rural Arkansas home and flung him across the street. Several homes and trailers in the neighborhood were... (Associated Press) 
 
 The St. Paul's Catholic Church's rectory, foreground, church and school lie damaged after severe weather in St. Louis, Mo. Jim Holbrook were in the... (Associated Press) 
 
 Debris from a house lies in a pile on Lindbergh Boulevard in Sunset Hills, Mo. Tornadoes fueled by unusually warm air struck the South and Midwest on Friday, killing at least... (Associated Press) 
 
 A St. Louis County police officer helps residents with their belongings as they evacuated their home on Lindbergh Boulevard in Sunset Hills, Mo. Tornadoes fueled... (Associated Press) 
 
 "I wanted to see the end coming. You're only going to see it one time and I thought that was it," he said, hours after surviving the twister. "It takes more than a tornado to get me." At least six people were killed and dozens injured as tornadoes fueled by unusually warm air pummeled the South and Midwest on Friday and early Saturday. Three people died in the northwestern Arkansas hamlet of Cincinnati when a tornado touched down just before sunrise Friday, and three others died when a storm spawned by the same weather system ripped up the Missouri countryside near Rolla. Early Saturday, two people were injured in central Mississippi and several homes were damaged by a storm in Attala County. Parts of Alabama and Florida were on tornado watch for much of Saturday and the same storm system triggered flash flooding in parts of Alabama. Sisemore, who lives in Cincinnati, had bumps and bruises but no serious injures. "It sucked me out of my house and carried me across the road and dropped me," he said. "I was Superman for a while. ... You're just free-floating through the air. Trees are knocking you and smacking you down." In south-central Missouri, 21-year-old Megan Ross and her 64-year-old grandmother Loretta Anderson died at a Lecoma farm where their family lived among three mobile homes and two frame houses, Dent County Emergency Management Coordinator Brad Nash said. The National Weather Service determined the home was hit by a weak tornado that was 50 yards wide and traveled less than a mile. Southard said nothing was left of the trailer except for the frame and that the twister scattered debris 40 to 50 yards from where the trailer had sat. North of Rolla, not far from Lecoma, 69-year-old Alice Cox was killed when a tornado destroyed a home while the Belle, Mo., woman was visiting a friend, according to Phelps County Emergency Management Director Sandy North. In the northwestern Arkansas hamlet of Cincinnati, Gerald Wilson, 88, and his wife, Mamie, 78, died in their home and Dick Murray, 78, died after being caught by the storm while milking cows, Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder said. At Fort Leonard Wood, a tornado with winds of 136 to 165 mph demolished about a dozen homes and caused lesser damage to many more in a neighborhood that houses military officers. Spokesman Jeff Maddy said many from the army base were traveling for the holidays. "The good thing here is if you had to have a storm like this, it couldn't happen at better time because we have the holiday season and so many people are visiting family and friends away from Fort Leonard Wood." In Illinois, a tornado may have touched down in Petersburg, northwest of Springfield, where about two dozen homes were damaged _ some severely _ and a woman was injured when her car was struck by a falling tree branch. Her injuries weren't believed to be life-threatening. The region has been bracing for severe weather for much of the week. Gulf moisture riding southerly winds pushed temperatures into the upper 60s and 70s Fahrenheit on Thursday — ahead of a cold front expected to drop temperatures into the teens by Saturday morning.
– A rare outbreak of winter tornadoes has killed at least seven people in Missouri and Arkansas and left a trail of destruction across the South and Midwest. Three people were killed by a tornado in a small town in northern Arkansas and a tornado spawned by the same weather system killed four more in Missouri. Tornado watches are in effect for parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana as the system moves east. Making matters worse, the storm system has caused flash flooding in parts of Alabama, MSNBC reports One Arkansas man survived with only bumps and bruises after a tornado plucked him from his home. "It sucked me out of my house and carried me across the road and dropped me," he told AP. "I was Superman for a while. You're just free-floating through the air. Trees are knocking you and smacking you down." Meteorologists believe the violent winter weather is linked to changes in Pacific Ocean temperatures, which have affected the jet stream across the central US.