The National Weather Service says strong thunderstorms will affect Chester and York counties through 8:15 p.m.

At about 7:15 p.m., radar indicated strong thunderstorms between Blacksburg and Laurens moving northeast at 50 mph. The storms can produce small hail and wind gusts of up to 50 mph. Torrential rain also is expected.

The communities impacted by the storms will include Hickory Grove, Carlisle, Clover and York.

Because of the chances of potential for bad weather, all after-school activities and classes in Rock Hill have been canceled. The Challenger Program and the Boys/Girls Teen Center at the Flex Center will remain open until 5 p.m.

A powerful cold front carrying storms that are unusually severe for late January is moving across the Southeast and Ohio Valley on Wednesday, threatening to bring damaging winds to the region by this evening.

Bryan McAvoy of the National Weather Service in Greenville said a "handful" of tornadoes and one funnel cloud have been reported in the upstate region.

McAvoy said he expected there to be a couple of tornadoes in South Carolina but could not say whether they would reach as east as Rock Hill.

The cold front moving across the region has the potential to produce widespread wind damage with some gusts up to 70 mph.

Some of the severe storms will occur with little or no lightning. Isolated flooding could develop.

This morning the line of storms stretched from eastern Lake Erie, southward across eastern Ohio, West Virginia, eastern Tennessee and into eastern Alabama. Numerous severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings were posted, and there were reports of wind damage from the storms during the overnight hours.

Media reports indicated the storms caused one fatality in the Nashville area. The Storm Prediction Center said it had received more than 30 reports of wind damage between 8 and 11 a.m. Wednesday. Those reports came from Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.

Residents of the Charlotte-Rock Hill area awakened to unusually mild weather for the next-to-last day of January.

The low in Charlotte on Wednesday morning, 62 degrees, set a record for the mildest Jan. 30 on record. The previous warmest low temperature for the date was 59, set in 1914. Temperatures are expected to climb into the lower 70s this afternoon, in advance of the cold front and storms.

The storms are expected to sweep east of the area by mid-evening, followed by clearing overnight. Temperatures will tumble, dropping into the upper 30s by morning. Thursday will be sunny and much cooler, with highs approaching 50 degrees. Calm and cool weather is predicted into the weekend.

Charlotte Observer contributed