At least 2 dead after tornadoes touch down in central US

(AP) — Tornadoes touched down in the upper Midwest and northern Arkansas on Tuesday, killing at least two people, as a spring-like storm system posed a risk to 45 million people.

At Ottawa, Illinois, state Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson said a tornado victim was killed by an uprooted tree.

While weather conditions typically improve after nightfall, as the atmosphere cools, the Storm Prediction Center posted tornado watches late Tuesday for the area from eastern Kansas and Oklahoma to near Cincinnati.

Hundreds of people, including many school children, took shelter at Bald Knob High School in Arkansas after a tornado warning was posted for the area.

Photos posted on social media showed basketball fans on the floor in the school's designated safe area.

Forecaster Ariel Cohen, who raised Tuesday's threat level in a midday update, said sunshine warmed the region and roiled the atmosphere ahead of an approaching cold front.