A powerful storm system rumbled through Mississippi on Thursday afternoon, with a related tornado contributing to one death in the state. Authorities warned of more destruction there and points eastward as the day grinds on.

(CNN) -- A powerful storm system rumbled through Mississippi on Thursday afternoon, with a related tornado contributing to one death in the state. Authorities warned of more destruction there and points eastward as the day grinds on.

Emergency management officials in Kemper County, Mississippi, on the Alabama border, confirmed that one person had died and several were injured due to severe weather.

That fatality, as well as at least one injury, came as strong winds destroyed a steel building along Highway 493, the National Weather Service reported.

In neighboring Noxubee County, the weather agency said, a "violent and extremely dangerous" tornado was spotted near the city of Macon.

City Clerk Beverly Shelton said electricity had been knocked out in Macon, and there were reports of damaged homes and businesses about 10 miles south in Shuqualak. A number of injuries were reported in that town of about 500 people, reported the weather service.

Such destruction was not entirely unexpected, as authorities had warned about twisters, large hail and more. Still, those conditions were expected primarily to threaten Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle -- not Mississippi.

Those other areas were still very much in peril Thursday.

Radar indicated a tornado set down in Pickens County, Alabama, and the county emergency management director, Ken Gibson, said a path of damage had been left behind in the northwestern part of the county, which borders Mississippi.

It wasn't just the Deep South that was watching out for bad weather, as severe storms were also expected across the eastern Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys.

Of course, such hazardous springtime weather is hardly an anomaly in many of these areas.

A cool March meant that there had been significantly fewer tornadoes this year compared with previous ones, CNN's weather unit noted.

But that doesn't mean to rest of the season will be slow.

Just ask the people of Hazelwood, Missouri, where at least 24 homes sustained severe damage from storms Wednesday night, the St. Louis County Office of Emergency Management said.

One tornado touched down in the St. Louis suburb, ripping the roofs off of several homes, Hazelwood Communications Coordinator Tim Davidson said. No serious injuries were immediately reported.

Hazelwood resident Alisa Daffin spent the night in her bathroom as the storm moved through.

When she woke up Thursday, "it was pitch black and I started having a panic attack," she told CNN affiliate KMOV. "I looked outside, and it got worse."

What she saw were downed trees and power lines. Her home was without electricity or water.

"It looks like a war zone, it doesn't look like my home," she told KMOV.

Daffin walked half a mile to an elementary school where the Red Cross had set up.

After the warning sirens went off Wednesday night, Gary Buneta decided to walk to the back of his house, where he thought he would be safe, but the tornado beat him to it.

As he was walking through the house, there was a loud pop, then flying glass before he rose off the ground and was thrown on his kitchen floor. Debris from the ceiling fell, and then it was quiet, he told KMOV.

"The wind just picked me up and moved me that far across my kitchen," he said.

Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency in Missouri after the series of storms pummeled the St. Louis area and elsewhere across the state. Nixon will tour damaged areas Thursday, his website said.

Arkansas was also hard hit, prompting Gov. Mike Beebe declaring 15 counties state disaster areas.

One tornado touched down in Van Buren County, about 75 miles north of Little Rock, damaging at least 33 homes and injuring three people.

The twister demolished the sanctuary, a fellowship area, classrooms and a pavilion at Botkinburg Foursquare Church, its pastor said.

"If the tornado would have come an hour and a half later, we would have been caught in it," said Senior Pastor Ester Bass, referring to Wednesday night services.

No members of the church were injured.

But a passing motorist who parked his truck in the church drive-through to get out of the dangerous weather had a close call when the storm struck.

"It shook the truck and just lifted the roof right off the drive-through," said Bass. "He was all right."

Bass, 63, said his congregation of about 100 was left stunned.

"It is just devastating. My wife and I are just torn," he said. "We put a lot of sweat and hard work and it was paying off. The church was growing."

As church leaders prepared to meet with their insurance adjuster, the pastor was thankful for a loyal membership.

"They will be with me," he said. "They are ready to buckle down and do what we have to. With the Lord's help, we are going to rebuild."

Damage also was reported in Arkansas' Fulton County, on the Missouri border, and in Conway, Lincoln and White counties. About 15 homes were damaged in Izard County, said Tommy Jackson of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

Storm spotters reported overturned vehicles along U.S. 65, north of Clinton.

The severe weather season started late in Arkansas because of the chilly March, Robinson said. So far this year, six tornadoes have been reported -- about half the normal number.

CNN's Joe Sutton, Phil Gast, Cristy Lenz, Dave Alsup and Sean Morris contributed to this report.

The pollen count is Georgia is soaring to near-record levels.

ATLANTA (AP) - The pollen count is Georgia is soaring to near-record levels.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reportsthat Thursday's pollen count rose to 8,024 particles of pollen per cubic meter of air.

That is Atlanta's third-highest number ever.

The newspaper reports that Thursday's pollen county in Atlanta is eclipsed only by the 8,163 recorded on March 19, 2012 and the record count of 9,367 on March 20, 2012.

The pollen count is expected to drop dramatically later this week, as rain in the forecast is expected to provide some relief.

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Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com

A storm system unleashed a tornado that slammed communities in northern Arkansas, damaging homes and destroying a church, officials said Wednesday evening.

(CNN) -- A storm system unleashed a tornado that slammed communities in northern Arkansas, damaging homes and destroying a church, officials said Wednesday evening.

At least three injuries were reported in Van Buren County.

Some 33 homes and a business were damaged in the county, said Tommy Jackson of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

The tornado demolished the sanctuary, fellowship area, classrooms and a pavilion at Botkinburg Foursquare Church, its pastor told CNN.

"If the tornado would have come an hour and a half later we would have been caught in it," said Senior Pastor Ester Bass, referring to Wednesday night services.

No members of the church were injured.

A passing motorist who parked his truck in the church drive-through to get out of the dangerous weather had a close call, however, when the storm struck.

"It shook the truck and just lifted the roof right off the drive-through," said Bass. "He was all right."

Bass, 63, said his congregation of about 100 was left stunned.

"It is just devastating. My wife and I are just torn," Bass said. "We put a lot of sweat and hard work and it was paying off. The church was growing."

As church leaders prepared to meet with their insurance adjuster, the pastor was thankful for a loyal membership.

"They will be with me," said Bass. "They are ready to buckle down and do what we have to. With the Lord's help, we are going to rebuild."

According to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, a Van Buren County highway was blocked by fallen trees and an 18-wheeler truck was overturned.

John Robinson, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service's Little Rock office, said the tornado tracked from the community of Scotland to Botkinburg. "It weakened fairly soon after that," he said. Another storm formed after that.

Damage also was reported in Viola in Fulton County, near the Missouri border, and in Conway, Lincoln and White counties. About 15 homes were damaged in Izard County, Jackson said.

Storm spotters reported damaged and overturned vehicles along U.S. 65, north of Clinton.

Video footage from CNN affiliate KATV showed toppled trees and twisted building girders at one damage location.

Scotland, according to Robinson, suffered a fatality and major damage to a highway and homes in a major February 2008 tornado.

The severe weather season started late in Arkansas, according to Robinson, because of a chilly March. "It has been a very slow year."

Thus far in 2013, six tornadoes have been reported, about half the normal number.

CNN's Dave Alsup and meteorologist Sean Morris contributed to this report.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is considering shortening doe hunting season to stabilize the state's deer population.

ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is considering shortening doe hunting season to stabilize the state's deer population.

John Bowers, of the department's Game Management Section, says a proposal to shorten doe hunting season by 25 days is a response to scientific data suggesting female deer now comprise 60 to 65 percent of the annual deer harvest. Additionally, Bowers says officials have noted a statewide decline in the fawn recruitment rate.

Bowers says hunters will be able to hunt for bucks throughout the season if the proposal passes.

The department plans to hold three hearings in Tifton, Forsyth and Jasper this month to allow the public to weigh in on the proposal.

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Online: www.gohuntgeorgia.com

A day after bizarre weather on Monday in which emergency workers northeast of Denver responded to a wildfire, a possible tornado and a blizzard warning -- all within a 50-mile radius -- a storm pouring over the Rockies gave Denver students a rare snow day on Tuesday.

(CNN) -- Wildfires, tornadoes, snow, ice, flooding, all on the same day. Sure, it sounds weird. But it's not, CNN meteorologist Judson Jones said Tuesday.

"It's just spring," he said.

"Blinding snow and 40 degrees below average does not sound like spring in Denver. On the flip side, the 20 degrees above average forecast for New York City feels more like early summer," he said. "But the unexpected is what we expect in spring."

A day after bizarre weather on Monday in which emergency workers northeast of Denver responded to a wildfire, a possible tornado and a blizzard warning -- all within a 50-mile radius -- a storm pouring over the Rockies gave Denver students a rare snow day on Tuesday.

It also caused the cancellation of at least 486 flights at Denver International Airport.

In South Dakota, which was on the lookout for up to 11 inches of snow on Tuesday, nearly four-tenths of an inch of ice had been recorded near Sioux Falls, with more on the way, the National Weather Service reported.

"It was 65 all last week!" CNN iReporter Nathan Zacher said. "Normally around 55 degrees this time of year."

The ice was downing trees and making travel tough, he said.

And while the Southeast and parts of the Northeast basked in sunny warmth, residents of the Central Plains braced for the possibility of severe storms, including tornadoes.

Central Oklahoma and parts of north central Texas were under moderate threat of severe thunderstorms, including the possibility of tornadoes, through Tuesday night, Jones said.

About 2.6 million people live in the path of those storms, which includes Oklahoma City and Tulsa in Oklahoma and Wichita Falls in Texas, Jones said.

The primary threat from those storms will be large hail, the National Weather Service said. Half-dollar-size hail was reported in Hamilton County, Iowa, and hail covered the ground in Fullerton, Nebraska.

In Denver on Tuesday, schools were closed, despite grumblings from parents online that there would be too little snow to keep kids home.

In a posting on its website, the district said Monday night that it made the call because it could be too hazardous to put kids on buses in what were expected to be icy, low-visibility conditions Tuesday morning.

At Denver International Airport, the staff said on Twitter that crews were continuing to clear snow and ice from runways and about half the canceled flights were commuter flights to smaller Rocky Mountain towns.

Monday Weather

Those actions followed a busy day in Colorado, where the storm knocked out power to about half the small town of Akron, destroyed a mobile home and damaged two other structures, at least one of which was a home, the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said.

No serious injuries were reported.

While it was not immediately clear if the winds in that storm were from a tornado, a tornado did briefly touch down near Bonny Lake in eastern Colorado on Monday, the National Weather Service reported.

Colorado crews also worked a 2,600-acre wildfire in Sterling County. Colorado has long been in a drought, and it wouldn't take much to spark a fire there, Jones said.

Wet, wet, wet

Inclement weather is not limited to the snow and ice. The National Weather Service said to expect "a plethora of interesting weather conditions."

Flood watches and warnings are in effect for most of Wisconsin on Tuesday, to be followed by freezing rain later in the week.

"Severe thunderstorms and even isolated tornadoes are possible across the central and southern Plains to the mid and lower Mississippi Valley," the weather service said.

By Wednesday, a squall line stretching from Memphis down through Louisiana should roll eastward through the Deep South, pushing along heavy thunderstorms, hail, damaging winds and possibly short-lived tornadoes, forecasters said.

It will be unseasonably warm in the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, the weather service predicts.

It's not all bad

Most of the country will see rain for the better part of the week. That's good news for the Plains and mountain states, which have seen extreme to exceptional drought for months.

The snow in the mountain states will extend the fun for winter sport fans, according Coloradoski.com.

As ski season winds down, with about half of resorts already closed, some popular slopes are expecting 1 to 5 inches of fresh powder through Wednesday.

The same goes for resorts in Utah.

CNN's Michael Pearson contributed to this report.