Snow, rain, tornadoes churn across U.S.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., March 7 (UPI) -- A tornado ripped through an area near Tallahassee, Fla., Friday, downing trees and damaging buildings, but not causing serious injuries, police said.

The tornado was part of a strong line of storms moving across the Florida Panhandle and into southern Georgia, The Miami Herald reported.

"We've had what appears to be a tornado that has gone through the eastern portion of Leon County," Leon County, Fla., Sheriff's Office Lt. Marilee Smith told the Herald. "We do have trees down on houses, damage to houses, trees down on cars."

Up to a foot of snow could be dumped in areas from Arkansas through New England while tornado-producing storms spread across the Southeast as the system pushes east though the weekend, AccuWeather.com reported.

A second wave weekend storms will come from a low-pressure area emerging from the central Gulf Coast that will intensify before sparking a blizzard by Saturday afternoon across the eastern Great Lakes, forecasters said, before moving through the Niagara Peninsula into southern Ontario and along the St. Lawrence Valley.

Much of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast east of the Appalachians will be subject to soaking rain during the weekend, forecasters said.