UPDATE: Chattanooga area tornado watches lifted; twister reportedly touches down in Whitfield County


              Fingers of lightning illuminate the sky as a summer storm packing high winds and heavy rains sweeps over downtown Denver late Thursday, June 4, 2015. Severe weather has hit in several locations along Colorado's Front Range during the day, prompting forecasters to issue tornado and flood warnings for the night ahead. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Fingers of lightning illuminate the sky as a summer storm packing high winds and heavy rains sweeps over downtown Denver late Thursday, June 4, 2015. Severe weather has hit in several locations along Colorado's Front Range during the day, prompting forecasters to issue tornado and flood warnings for the night ahead. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

LATEST UPDATE: The tornado watches for counties in East Tennessee and North Georgia have been lifted and the tornado watch for Cherokee County, N.C., has expired.

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LATEST: The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch until 8 p.m for these greater Chattanooga area counties: Bledsoe, Bradley Hamilton McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea and Sequatchie in Tennessee; and Cherokee in North Carolina.

A tornado watch is issued when weather conditions are favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms called a supercell that are capable of producing tornadoes. A tornado watch therefore implies that it is also a severe thunderstorm watch.

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UPDATE: A tornado has reportedly touched down in Whitfield County along Cleveland Highway, according to the Varnell Police Department.

Public safety crews are on scene near the 2500 block of Cleveland Highway with storm related damage. Initial reports indicate a tornado may have touched down, but that is not confirmed at this time. There are currently no reports of injuries or fatalities.

A tornado warning has been issued for Whitfield County, southeastern Murray County in northwest Georgia and Polk County.

A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for south central Murray County and northeastern Gordon County.

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ORIGINAL STORY: A strong storm system is moving across the Tennessee Valley today, forcing the National Weather Service to issue a hazardous weather outlook for the Chattanooga area lasting into the late afternoon.

Severe thunderstorms, isolated tornadoes, quarter-size hail, damaging winds and heavy rainfall are all possible today.

The National Weather Service says if the airmass becomes unstable to produce severe thunderstorms, the main concern will be isolated tornadoes, hail, damaging winds and heavy rainfall.

The greatest threat of severe storms will be along and east of Interstate 75, and between noon and 5 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

The severe weather outlook includes counties: Bledsoe, Bradley, Hamilton, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea and Sequatchie.

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