( CNN ) -- A storm system stretching from Texas north to Michigan threatens to bring `` widespread damaging winds and several tornadoes '' to parts of 10 states , the National Weather Service said Tuesday . `` An increasing threat for severe thunderstorms will occur through tonight in advance of a strong cold front moving across the central United States , '' the weather service 's Storm Prediction Center said . `` The most intense thunderstorms are anticipated late this afternoon and especially into the overnight hours tonight across parts of the lower Ohio Valley , mid-South and lower Mississippi Valley . '' States threatened by what the agency called a moderate risk of severe weather are Arkansas , southern Illinois , extreme southwestern Indiana , western Kentucky , western Tennessee , southern Missouri , northern Louisiana , northern Mississippi , southeastern Oklahoma and northeastern Texas , the agency said . But severe storms are possible along a line from the southern Great Lakes to the Louisiana coast , the Storm Prediction Center said . Tornado watches were up Tuesday afternoon for portions of Arkansas , Kansas , Missouri , Illinois , Oklahoma and Texas . Those storms could be at their most dangerous late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning , CNN meteorologist Sarah Dillingham said . Extreme weather and a changing climate . Even outside the areas most at risk for tornadoes , wind gusts could reach 80 mph in some areas -- enough to bring down trees and power lines , she said . On Wednesday , the threat shifts farther east , with parts of Alabama , Georgia , Tennessee , Kentucky , South Carolina , North Carolina , Virginia and West Virginia at moderate risk of severe weather , including damaging winds and isolated tornadoes , the Storm Prediction Center said . After the severe weather , a cold-weather system could bring snow and freezing rain to the Midwest , beginning Wednesday , and the threat of extremely cold weather in the northern Plains states and Upper Midwest , particularly on Thursday . NASA scientists link climate change , extreme weather .
NEW : Forecasters see an `` increasing threat for severe thunderstorms '' into Wednesday . NEW : System stretches from Texas north to Michigan . NEW : There could be `` damaging winds and several tornadoes '' in parts of 10 states . Snow and cold weather are n't far behind Tuesday 's high temperatures and rain .