Potent storms to rattle, drench eastern US
The same storm system that drenched the northwestern United States from Sunday to Monday brought severe thunderstorms from the Upper Midwest to the southern Plains on Tuesday and from the Great Lakes and mid-Atlantic into portions of the Southeast on Wednesday. The threat of gusty to severe thunderstorms will shift into the East into Thursday, AccuWeather meteorologists foretell.
Severe storms from Mississippi to parts of the mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes Wednesday brought numerous reports of damaging wind gusts.
There were also multiple tornado reports across Michigan, West Virginia and Maryland. The storms in the mid-Atlantic were responsible for multiple injuries.
As the front crosses the Appalachians on Thursday, there will be enough daytime heating to allow showers and thunderstorms to rebound in the mid-Atlantic corridor from parts of the Carolinas to eastern New York, Connecticut and western Massachusetts. Some of the storms will become severe with hail and damaging wind gusts.
It is not out of the question that a couple of the strongest thunderstorms produce a brief tornado.
As the storms move into a major metro area, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) may issue ground stops. Motorists should be prepared for quickly changing weather conditions where dry roads can become torrents of water in minutes.
As a mass of cool air expands southeastward across the Great Lakes and into the Northeast from Friday to Saturday, a mosaic of showers will develop during the midday and afternoon hours. A few of these will evolve into thunderstorms that could produce localized small hail and gusty winds.
A couple of waterspouts may develop on the Great Lakes from Friday to Saturday.
The air behind the front will be cooler and less humid than the air in front and will offer a refreshing change, especially for some people in the South Central and Southeast states, which is uncommon during June.
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