Storm brings white Christmas, tornado threat to central US

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - A major winter storm brought a rare white Christmas to the southern US plains on Tuesday, contributing to a 21-vehicle pile-up that shut down a major highway in Oklahoma and the death of a Texas man.

The storm system surging east from Kansas and the Texas Panhandle includes the threat of tornados and severe thunderstorms along its southern fringe, from south-east Texas to Alabama, the National Weather Service said.

The storm is expected to bring blizzard conditions and 15 to 20 cm of snow as it strengthens and moves north-east into the upper Ohio River valley through southern Missouri and Illinois, it said.

A 25-year-old Texas man was killed when a tree fell across the road in Harris County, in the Houston metropolitan area, according to Thomas Gilliland of the county's sheriff's office.