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 mangled mess homes shredded and cars tossed. from terrifying tornadoes striking overnight. there s possi
reporter: for a sport steeped in history, major league baseball s taking a crack at new rules, hoping to bring a more explosive, speedier version to fans. for fielders this is what we ve been dreaming of. reporter: the average baseball game in 2022 was more than three hours. the league hopes to get things moving faster this season with a new pitch clock. what rule or rules are being talked about the most i d say the clock reporter: here s how it works pitchers only have 15 seconds between throws unless there s runners on base. then it s 20 and batters have to be locked in and ready with eight seconds left creating chaos in one of the first preseason games on saturday. and now what? he s out. they have called strike 3 reporter: the braves-red sox ending with a violation both teams and fans expecting a learning curve. that s why these games are really, really important i think we re all learning together. as a fan it s interesting to me to see how those seasoned p