"We have (tornado) watches from Louisiana to the Great Lakes," said US Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro.

Vaccaro said the weather services had not yet received any reports of injuries from the storms. There have been a number of reports of damage to homes and other buildings.

"This is a very dynamic and very energetic storm," he said, adding that the same weather system was producing hail the size of golf balls and snow flurries.

The US weather service issued tornado watches for 10 states, including Indiana where 22 people were killed on November 6. One woman was killed Monday when a series of tornados struck Iowa.

In 2004, 22 people were killed by tornados in the US, down from 54 in 2003 and 55 in 2002.

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