Weather conditions are beginning to deteriorate in Warren County as a threatening line of severe weather approaches. As of 3:30 p.m., rain cells were beginning to pop up in Warren County with winds beginning to increase.

Ahead of the storm — which is expected to bring its worst near 5 p.m. — city and county officials closed government offices including the Warren County Courthouse.

Just before noon, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center issued a tornado watch for portions of central to eastern Mississippi until 7 p.m. The center labeled the severe weather threat expected to roll through the area this afternoon a “particularly dangerous situation.” Warren County, specifically, is under a tornado watch until 7 p.m.

The area identified by the center includes a large section of Mississippi, beginning just east of Vicksburg, extending south into the Pine Belt, over to and into Alabama, and stretching northeast to Tupelo.

The center cited the primary weather threat as intense tornadoes, damaging winds with gusts to 80 miles per hour likely and large hail events with daily three inches in diameter likely.

Already, multiple tornadoes have been reported in east Mississippi, with a chicken farm in Wayne County suffering a direct hit. In southwest Mississippi, a tornado warning was issued in Wilkinson County after 3 p.m. Portions of Adams and Franklin counties are also under a tornado warning.

Forecasters had also estimated Warren County could see rain totals between 2-to-3 inches.