Battle of the air masses

Today's weather map is just a hint that spring isn't too far away, and as we move into February and especially March, severe weather will become more and more common.

For the second time this year, tornado watches have been issued across portions of the south as severe storms are possible. And while the tornado threat isn't as widespread as some instances we saw last year, it does exist, hence the watches being issued.

Residents in these areas should not be fooled that it's January.

Past years have definitely created killer January tornadoes ... not so much because they are monster, long-track EF5's, but because people don't expect to see tornadoes so early in the year.

Areas to the north and northeast of the severe weather are getting a dose of winter with chilly winds, ice and snow.

Meanwhile a huge surge of moisture off the Pacific continues to slam the mountains of the central and northern Rockies, the Cascades and the Sierras. It's the same flow of moisture that hit Seattle so hard with wintry weather earlier this week.

Seattle has warmed up and is now receiving rain on top of all that snow and ice. All that water is causing some flooding issues, overwhelming street drains and making for slow travel.