Southern US warmup to fuel severe weather event through Friday night

A warm and stormy end to the week will threaten damaging winds, flooding rain and even a few tornadoes as storms tear through the Mississippi Valley. 

Warm air will surge out of the Gulf of Mexico and into the region through the end of the week. After bottoming out at 25 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday morning, temperatures in Little Rock will soar into the 70s F on Thursday and Friday. 

This warmth will combine with an incoming storm system to create a favorable setup for severe weather late on Friday, according to AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologist Brian Adams.

The impacted region will include "areas from the eastern Plains across the lower Mississippi Valley and into portions of the Ohio River Valley," he said.