Strong storm system sparks rare December tornado in Midwest

The same system knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers.

A storm system is impacting the Midwest and 29 states are on alert for damaging winds, heavy snow and avalanches.

A tornado threat was issued for Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, with a tornado touching down in Plainview, Minnesota, just outside Rochester, on Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service. This was the first time Minnesota has recorded a tornado in December.

There is already snow on the ground in parts of Minnesota where more tornadoes could occur Wednesday into Thursday.

Heavy rain is expected for Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas on Thursday and Friday. There could be between 2 to 4 inches of rain in the area, which was severely impacted by the deadly storms last weekend.