The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch that includes New Orleans and Baton Rouge metro areas until 7 p.m. Tuesday. The threat of severe weather prompted New Orleans Mardi Gras parades to roll early Fat Tuesday and attention is now turning what is in the forecast this afternoon and evening.

A strong storm system will be moving across the Mississippi Valley through the afternoon and we will have the chance of severe weather as the line of storms moves in with it. We currently have a tornado watch for the entire area of southern Louisiana and Mississippi until 7 p.

Power outages have skyrocketed and significant damage has been reported in several communities as severe weather raced across portions of Texas and Oklahoma early Tuesday morning.