Severe Weather Warning Just Cancelled for St. Louis City; County

Second Upate: Both Ladue and Frontenac police reported no serious property damage in either community. Patrol officer Mike Baron of Frontenac said "We got lucky on that one. Our overnight officers didn't report anything.

The same went for the public works department in Ladue who indicated the storm left no serious damage anywhere.

Update: at 3:05 a.m. the tornado watch was cancelled and replaced with a tornado warning, meaning conditions are still possible for such conditions.

St. Louisians in deep southwest St. Louis County are in the line of heavy thunderstorms and one inch hail. This is the first tornado watch of 2012, followed by a heavy blast of winter, according to KMOX-Radio.

Oakville, and residents up against the Mississippi River are in the direct path and urged to not let their guard down. Winds at 55 miles per hour were clocked in Barnhart, Kimmswick, Antonio, Arnold, Oakville and othe parts of Jefferson County.

Residents are urged to go to basements or take cover in closets now.

In the meantime, the sirens are powering down in St. Louis city and county.

KMOX says from downtown St. Louis to northern areas are deamed out of the danger zone.

The National Weather Service has reported winds in excess of 50 miles per hour. This is reported to be driven by a severe cold front and very odd for January.

Problems are more severe since early warnings came in the middle of the night.

Those in the Highway 55 tornado zone should get out of their cars and seek cover in convenience stores. Drivers should not seek coverage under over passes.

The storm is moving east through Southern Illinois, threatening Belleville, Columbia, Waterloo, Freeburg and other communities.

Weather forecasters expect temperatures to drop severely as day light approaches.

More as conditions continue to develop.