The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for most western counties in North Carolina and the South Carolina Upstate Friday afternoon ahead of an advancing line of storms that are producing strong winds and heavy rains.

The tornado watch is in effect until 11 p.m.

In the Channel 9 viewing area, Burke, Avery, McDowell and Caldwell counties are under the watch. In South Carolina, York and Chester counties are under the watch.

In all, 19 counties in North Carolina and 12 counties in South Carolina are under the tornado watch.

In Oconee County in western South Carolina and Rabun County in northeastern Georgia, doppler radar indicated a tornado in the area of the town of Lakemont shortly before 4 p.m. Friday. The warning expired for the two counties at 4:15 p.m., but Pickens County in South Carolina is under a tornado warning until 5 p.m., according to the NWS.

Around 4:30 p.m., a tornado was spotted west of the town of Pickens.

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According to the NWS, there is a chance some storms could become severe, and be marked by large hail and damaging straight line winds.

The storms are ahead of a large cold front that will carry more rain and thunderstorms into the area through the weekend. 

"Based on the overlap of high shear and instability, it appears that bands of supercells may develop over eastern Tennessee and northern Georgia, and track northeast into the western Carolinas and northeast Georgia this evening," NWS forecasters said.

As a warm front lifts north through central North Carolina Friday afternoon, the risk of severe thunderstorms increase. Weak instability and strong winds could support isoladed thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds and quarter-sized hail, the NWS said. 

An isolated tornado is also possible. 

The storms will lift sometime around sunset, and conditions should be calm until midnight when another threat of severe weather will emerge. Current forecasts show the most likely time frame for severe weather will be between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. Saturday as a strong cold front moves across the state.

 Just like Friday afternoon, storms early Saturday morning could be marked by isolated severe thunderstorms and a possible tornado.

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Powerful storms stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes flattened buildings in several states, wrecked a small Indiana town and bred anxiety across a wide swath of the country in the second powerful tornado outbreak this week.   

Widespread damage was reported in southern Indiana, where Clark County Sheriff's Department Maj. Chuck Adams said the town of Marysville is "completely gone." Dozens of houses were also damaged in Alabama and Tennessee two days after storms killed 13 people in the Midwest and South.   

At least 20 homes were badly damaged in the Chattanooga, Tenn., area after strong winds and hail lashed the area. 

An apparent tornado also damaged a state maximum security prison about 10 miles from Huntsville, but none of the facility's approximately 2,100 inmates escaped. Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said there were no reports of injuries, but the roof was damaged on two large prison dormitories that each hold about 250 men. Part of the perimeter fence was knocked down, but the prison was secure.

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'Completely gone' 

Tornadoes have left widespread damage in southern Indiana and a sheriff's official says at least one town of about 1,900 people is "completely gone."   

National Weather Service coordinator Bill Whitlock there's "extreme damage" in the area of Henryville, a town of about 3,000 people just north of the Kentucky border. Destruction can be seen for miles and a school district spokeswoman says heavy damage has been reported at Henryville High school.   

Clark County Sheriff's Department Maj. Chuck Adams says the nearby town of Marysville is "completely gone."   

Indiana authorities say at least six people have been killed by tornadoes raking the southern portion of the state.

Officials say they've had difficulty confirming reports due to downed power and telephone lines.

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