An incredibly dangerous day of severe thunderstorms including the potential for long-lasting, powerful tornadoes and hurricane-strength wind gusts is underway in the eastern half of the United States.

A potent cluster of thunderstorms that ripped down trees and flooded roads in parts of the region may have spawned a tornado in South Jersey on Friday afternoon. And the National Weather Service has issued another severe thunderstorm watch for for the entire region in effect until 11:59 p.

The National Weather Service has confirmed two tornados from Thursday’s severe weather that caused downed powerlines and toppled trees into homes across West Michigan. One EF0 tornado went from the Galesburg area to Battle Creek. The weather service says winds were as fast as 80 miles per hour.

A wide swath of the Midwest and Plains states is under a tornado watch and severe weather conditions are forecast to persist into next week, the National Weather service said Thursday.