Small tornadoes skipped through Central and Southeast America Friday, causing only minor damage --- but howling a warning about what some experts say could be one of the most vicious tornado seasons in years.

At least five tornadoes whirled through portions of Texas and Oklahoma, traveling in storms that dropped hail up to 2 ¾ inches. In Tulsa, a small tornado rated F1 (the lowest possible strength, with winds of 73 to 112 mph) downed power lines and caused about $60,000 in damage in less than one minute.

As surging storm systems roiled east, hail and high winds pummeled Kansas and Arkansas, then unleashed a tornado over an elementary school in Urbana, Missouri. Luckily, no one was injured as the twister ripped off parts of the school's roof and destroyed an adjacent bus garage.

Friday's outbreak follows the horrific Valentine's Day devastation in Georgia. On Feb. 14, roaring tornadoes dropped out of a night sky, killing at least 19 people and devastating communities.

The early spring activity has weather experts keeping a close eye on an early spring that could spin up tornadoes as deadly as the May 3, 1999 Oklahoma outbreak. For several hours, F5 (winds of 268 to 318 miles per hour) tornadoes and smaller cousins roared across the state, killing at least 43, destroying miles of homes and businesses, and causing billions of dollars in holocaust devastation that still isn't totally rebuilt.

Veteran stormchaser and photographer Jim Leonard said that this year's early outbreaks signal what the potential for a ".pretty active severe weather season for the plains and the mid-west." Leonard, widely noted for his success in capturing super storms on films, noted that some areas have already reported dewpoints in the 60's.

The chances of tornadic development are boosted when dewpoints, a measurement of water saturation in the air, rise above 55 degrees. In general, the complicated dynamics of tornado formation include a clash between warm, moist air and colder, dryer air.

This year's early tornadic outbreaks, warmer-than-normal temperatures, and several successive days of potential for severe thunderstorm and supercell formation have also caught the eye of meteorologist Larry Cosgrove. Cosgrove, who accurately predicted the tornadic system that raked Georgia, said "were this late March, with its strong sun, we might well be looking at one of the greatest outbreaks of tornadoes in many years."