Severe Weather Threat & Tornado Risk Returns to Northeast Today

While thunderstorms are possible in any color shaded area, the dark green has an elevated threat of severe thunderstorms while the yellow one has an even higher threat level. Image: NWS SPC

The threat of severe weather and the risk of isolated tornadoes is returning to the northeast today, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for the area. The threat of severe weather exists from western North Carolina north into Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, western Connecticut and Massachusetts, southern Vermont, and west into Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and northern West Virginia. The greatest threat of tornadoes in this area is across northeastern Pennsylvania into southeast Upstate New York.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued for the area in blue on this map. Image: NWS

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for much of central New York and Pennsylvania; additional watches to the east may become necessary later in the day.

A surface cold front is sagging southward into New York and western Pennsylvania today is responsible for this severe weather threat. Thunderstorms have begun to intensify along/ahead of the front, with locally damaging wind gusts expected through the afternoon. According to the SPC, low clouds are limiting heating and atmospheric destabilization over eastern New York, Pennsylvania, and the Mid Atlantic region. However, heating should begin by late afternoon, allowing storms approaching from the west to maintain a damaging wind threat into the early evening.