nbc "nightly news" with lester holt good evening and thank you for joining us we start off tonight with yet another late winter punch of severe weather across the country as we begin this week including multiple tornadoes confirmed today in illinois at least a dozen reported from the plains to midwest since yesterday. but we are also watching snow moving east tonight, potentially bringing new york city its first significant snow of the season. right now there are winter alerts affecting an estimated 42 million people. from wisconsin clear to maine for many high winds will make things worse. and there's no break for storm-weary california rocked by more rain and snow today al roker will take us through it all in just a moment but first let's go to morgan chesky in oklahoma where they are picking up the pieces from tornadoes tonight. >> reporter: tonight oklahoma facing a