After a brief break, a fresh threat of severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and heavy rains and downpours creating flood conditions will be making a return to portions of the Mid Atlantic on Thursday.

According to the Storm Prediction Center, thunderstorm activity is expected to increase near and south of a surface cold front in the Mid-Atlantic on Thursday afternoon. Enhanced flow from the trough will support deep layer shear setting the stage for  multi-cell clusters developing by the late afternoon. Deep moisture and moderate atmospheric dynamics south of the  front will support potential for strong to severe winds from wet downbursts.

With the potential for heavy rain of 2-4″+ with isolated amounts to 6″, the National Weather Service has issued Flash Flood Watches for parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland.

A warm and increasingly humid airmass will be in place as the front moves through.  Showers and thunderstorms will be capable of heavy rain resulting in rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches with 6 inches or more in localized areas. Rainfall rates may exceed 2 inches per hour, creating flash flood conditions.

“Turn around, don’t drown; never drive through flood waters,” the National Weather Service warns.