The last Friday in May will be a stormy one for the East, with an elevated threat of severe weather from the Mid Atlantic south to the Southeast. Scattered to numerous severe storms with wind damage, large hail, and a few tornadoes will be possible this afternoon and evening across this region, with flooding rains possible too.
The National Weather Service cautions, “Remember: A Severe Thunderstorm WATCH means Be Prepared. A Severe Thunderstorm WARNING means Take Action!” Numerous watches and warnings are in effect today.
The National Weather Service says that when a Severe Thunderstorm Watch is issued, people should be prepared because severe thunderstorms are possible in and near the watch area. Stay informed and be ready to act if a severe thunderstorm warning is issued. The watch area is typically large, covering numerous counties or even states.
When a Severe Thunderstorm Warning is issued, the National Weather Service urges you to take action. This is issued when severe weather has been reported by spotters or indicated by radar. Warnings indicate imminent danger to life and property; as such, people should tTake shelter in a substantial building and get out of mobile homes that can blow over in high winds. Warnings typically encompass a much smaller area, around the size of a city or small county, that could be impacted by a large hail or damaging wind identified by an National Weather Service forecaster on radar or by a trained spotter or law enforcement official who is watching the storm.
A low pressure system currently developing over the Midwest is forecast to track across the northern Mid-Atlantic by tonight and intensify to a rather strong system for late May as it reaches New England on Saturday. A round of moderate to heavy rain along with increasingly gusty wind can be expected along the track of this low pressure system. The highest chance of heavy rain will be across the Ohio Valley today and then into the northern Mid-Atlantic by tonight. Some thunderstorms embedded within the rain can be strong to severe, possibly resulting in local areas of flash flooding. The low is forecast to deepen further as the center tracks northeastward through New England on Saturday with a swath of moderate to heavy rain across the interior sections, along with gusty wind expanding across the Northeast.
From the Mid-Atlantic southward into the Southeast, lines of thunderstorms could contain severe weather as a cold front associated with the intensifying system sweeps across the region later today into tonight. The cold front will move off the East Coast later tonight but the instability associated with a cold upper-level trough could trigger scattered thunderstorms across the Mid-Atlantic region even though temperatures will be cooler behind the cold front on Saturday. By Saturday night into Sunday morning, a reinforcing cold front will bring temperatures further down into the 40s and 50s from all of the Great Lakes through the Northeast and down into the Mid-Atlantic.
