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(CNN) --
The threat of possible tornadoes, high winds and hail across parts of Alabama and Mississippi lingered early Wednesday, but a line of storms that hung over the region for much of Tuesday is expected to weaken as proceed east.
More than a dozen Alabama counties, including Montgomery and the city of Birmingham, in the western and central regions of the state were under a tornado watch as of 6 a.m., according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.
Parts of southeastern Mississippi were also under surveillance.
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Major threats in the watch area include possibly intense tornadoes, scattered wind gusts to 70 mph and hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter, the prediction center explained.
A tornado watch means that weather conditions are favorable for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms to form in or near the watch area.
A gradual evolution of a storm line along a cold front is expected overnight, with damaging gusts and a couple of tornadoes as major concerns, forecasters said.
Tornadoes that occur at night can be particularly dangerous because it is difficult to warn people to seek shelter when they are sleeping.
A steeple fell from a church in the Steens, Mississippi community after a severe storm hit the area Tuesday.
The storms generated at least 23 tornado reports, most coming from central and southern Mississippi, and others from Alabama and Louisiana.
So far, reported power outages have been minimal.
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Mississippi State University in Starkville briefly asked students to seek shelter during a tornado warning Tuesday night.
Earlier in the day, classes at two of the school's campuses were held remotely and some dining rooms were closed due to the threat.
Regular operations were expected to resume on Wednesday, the university said.
In the community of Steens in nearby Lowndes County, a church steeple was blown off and a grocery store sustained some damage Tuesday night, Cindy Lawrence, the county's emergency management director, told CNN.
In Alabama, the Birmingham weather service said it received reports of damage in Greene County, specifically in the Eutaw area.
“This was associated with a storm that produced a tornado debris signature,” the weather service noted.
The same storm also downed many trees and damaged some homes in the small town of Akron in Hale County.
Authorities had not received any reports of injuries, Hale County Emergency Management Director Russell Weeden said.
Early Tuesday, the Storm Prediction Center issued a "particularly dangerous situation" tornado watch, which is generally designated for the most significant severe storm threats.
That watch was in effect for central Mississippi, northeast Louisiana and southwest Arkansas until early Wednesday morning and has since expired.
The storms will weaken today
Later Wednesday, the storms are expected to move to the east and weaken.
Parts of the Florida Panhandle and southeastern Alabama, as well as southern and central Georgia, are under a slight risk, a level 2 out of 5, for thunderstorms.
The main threats to that region are strong gusty winds with the possibility of one or two tornadoes.
Thunderstorms are likely Wednesday morning from near the mouth of the Mississippi River northeast into Georgia, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
“This line is expected to continue moving rapidly southeast through southern AL, FL Panhandle, and central/southern GA through noon,” the forecast center said.
Some southern regions, including between Huntsville and Birmingham in Alabama, saw up to 4 inches of rain Tuesday.
"Additional periods of heavy rain will affect the region tonight, potentially pushing some areas to the neighborhood of 5 (inches)," the weather service in Birmingham said.
CNN's Joe Sutton, Sharif Paget, Robert Shackelford, Andi Babineau, Sara Smart and Taylor Ward contributed to this report.
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