The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center warned of "near historic" fire conditions in the Plains.

Aaron Ward, a meteorologist with the Weather Service office in Amarillo said visibility was “nearly zero” in the greater Amarillo region. The Texas Department of Public Safety said it was responding to multiple crashes across the region because of low visibility from clouds of dust.

Some towns have been evacuated due to nearby fires, while multiple roads are closed around the region – some due to near zero visibility triggered by sprawling dust storms; others due to smoke and flames from fast-moving wildfires.

In some extreme cases, thunderstorms can spawn a derecho, a long-lived windstorm with gusts over 100 mph, strong enough to cause widespread destruction. If a severe thunderstorm warning mentions damaging winds or a derecho, take cover immediately—just as you would for a tornado.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The threat of tornadoes moved east into the Mississippi Valley and Deep South on Saturday, a day after a massive storm system moving across the country unleashed winds that damaged buildings, whipped up dust storms that caused deadly crashes and fanned more than 100 wildfires in several central states.