Fast-moving storms sweep the Midwest

Severe thunderstorms rolled fast through the Midwest Saturday night, causing scattered damage and power outages for thousands from Kansas to Michigan, and dampening weekend plans in the region, while other parts of the country experienced one of the first temperate weekends since the end of a brutally cold winter.

Severe thunderstorm watches were in effect from Kansas through Iowa, Wisconsin and parts of Nebraska and western Illinois until 7 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. 

The storm brought strong wind, hail and heavy rain to parts of western and northern Michigan, with reports of some funnel clouds, tell-tale signs of tornadoes, but no confirmed touchdowns of the potentially destructive, and deadly twisters, MILive.com reported.

"We think that the flood threat is going to be the main threat," Nathan Jeruzal, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Grand Rapids, Mich., told the site.

Large swaths of Kansas were under a severe thunderstorm warning as of Saturday night, with the danger expected to last until Sunday at 2 a.m. Small hail has fallen north of Topeka, but icy orbs the size of tennis balls are possible, according to the Topeka Capital Journal.

Local media have not reported any deaths caused by the outbreak of stormy weather.

Sudden severe weather is common for the Midwest during spring, when warm air from the South meets cold fronts from the North. Powerful storms can move quickly across the region's level terrain, sometimes spawning deadly tornadoes. 

The storms come as part of a cool front expected to drop snow in the higher elevations of the Rockies over the next several days — with significant accumulations in some places.