A path of 85 miles would make it the longest-tracking tornado since May 18, 1995. A tornado with a path length of 78.3 miles swept through southeastern Oklahoma on May 15, 2003, and moved south of Texarkana along the Arkansas-Texas border.

A tornado that touched down in Brazoria County, Texas, struck some homes and other structures on Saturday, the authorities said. It was a day of tornado warnings in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The storms closed some roads in western North Carolina, a region broadly devastated by Hurricane Helene this fall. That included part of U.S. 441, also known as the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, which closed north of Bryson City due to high winds.