The first tornado warning if the night for northern Dyer County came and went without much more than high winds reported, but officials were bearing down for a second wave.

A Dyer County Sheriff's deputy, at left, watches the skies from the Harness Road cross; and a Dyersburg Police officers mans the station at the edge of the city at the I-155 exit ramp.

The tornado watch issued at 5 p.m. was still in force until 2 a.m., with authorities urging residents to be prepared to take cover.

Sirens wailed at 7:57 p.m. in Dyersburg, seconds after the National Weather Service issued the first tornado warning.

The Lake County Courthouse in Tiptonville sustained damage when several gutters were blown off the building, said a sheriff's department dispatcher.

A narrow thunderstorm about 40 miles from south to north prompted the second warning, issued about 9 p.m., but the mass fell apart as it crossed into Tennessee.

Dyer County Sheriff's deputies and Dyersburg Police officers watched the western skies throughout the night, and storm watchers were atop Chickasaw Bluff to see the three-state view to give warning.

Fourteen counties in West Tennessee are in the tornado watch area.