LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The FOX Forecast Center is tracking another heightened threat of severe weather Friday that will initially focus on the Texarkana region before the threat of hazardous weather expands to the Mississippi and Tennessee valleys.Communities such as Little Rock, Jonesboro and Fort Smith in Arkansas are all in the enhanced to moderate risk zone for severe storms. The general thunderstorm threat zone extends for hundreds of miles, placing over 55 million under the gun.The Storm Prediction Center issued Tornado Watches for portions of nine states that include: Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi until after sunset.WHY IS THIS RELENTLESS SEVERE WEATHER PATTERN STUCK OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE US?The thunderstorms are expected to develop due to a stalled weather pattern — the same one that has produced significant and deadly severe weather for the Mississippi and Ohio valleys over the past few days. At least eight people have died across four states this week as a result of severe weather and flooding.HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHERThe Storm Prediction Center received nearly 700 reports of severe weather from Wednesday’s storms, making it the most active weather day since 2011.With the renewed threat of hail, damaging winds and strong tornadoes possibly rated EF-2 or higher, expect the SPC to be busy again issuing severe weather watch boxes by late Friday evening and into the early hours of Saturday. HOW ARE TORNADOES RATED?On Friday afternoon, one of the first supercells to form happened over the Lone Star State, before the tornado moved into Oklahoma.Significant damage to structures was reported around Clarksville, Texas, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.The repeated storms along the slow-moving front will also cause a high flash flood risk, especially in western Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas. Rainfall totals could reach over 5-8 inches in some areas, with local amounts of more than a foot possible.WHY HIGH-RISK FLOOD DAYS ARE SO SERIOUSHigh-pressure ridges along the Eastern Seaboard, which have kept the storm systems locked in place, are finally expected to weaken toward the end of the weekend and into next week.This shift will allow drier, less humid air to move in and end the wet and muggy weather that has plagued the region. While the prospect of drier weather is welcome news, the floodwaters will not recede quickly. River levels will remain high for the foreseeable future, and if a wet weather pattern returns, any additional rainfall could be problematic.