Daily episodes of severe weather to pulse across US
Daily episodes of severe weather have been erupting across parts of the United States every day so far this month -- and the trend is expected to continue in the coming days. The atmosphere will keep its foot on the throttle for potentially dangerous, damaging and disruptive storms in portions of the eastern and central U.S. into this weekend.
Millions of Americans will need to stay alert to the forecast as the pockets of severe weather will shift around from day to day.
Storms during the middle of July often can be briefly heavy on an isolated basis during the afternoon and early evening hours, especially in the Southeast states. However, a dome of heat will add intensity and coverage of storms on the periphery in the coming days.
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A video from social media on Thursday shows roofs torn from buildings and debris scattered across the ground in Portland, New York. The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center reported strong winds in the area, noting a barn had been destroyed, trees uprooted, damage to a house and a shop lift removed.
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A shelf cloud was captured over the National Weather Service office in Wichita, Kansas, on Thursday morning, July 16, 2020, as a potent storm rolled into the region. (Twitter / Kevin Darmofal, NWS employee) |
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A camera at AccuWeather's Wichita, Kansas, office showed a shelf cloud hovering overhead Thursday morning, July 16, 2020. (AccuWeather) |
On Friday, the greatest threat of severe weather will shift back to the North Central states and adjacent areas of Canada.
"A storm system moving eastward across the southern tier of Canada will help focus the storms in what is likely to be a significant severe weather event," Brett Anderson, AccuWeather's top Canada weather expert, said.
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The full spectrum of severe weather is possible on Friday from the Dakotas to Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin, part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, southern Manitoba, southeastern Saskatchewan and part of northwestern Ontario.
"These likely violent storms on Friday will carry the potential for AccuWeather Local StormMax™ wind gusts to 80 mph (130 km/h), hail, flooding downpours and isolated tornadoes," Anderson said.
Cities at risk for the severe storms on Friday include Bismarck, Grand Forks and Fargo, North Dakota; Aberdeen, South Dakota; Minneapolis, Duluth and Rochester, Minnesota; Eau Claire, Wisconsin; and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The threat of severe weather will shift southeastward over the Midwest on Saturday.
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The early estimate on coverage of severe storms includes Chicago and Rockford, Illinois; Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay, Wisconsin; Des Moines and Davenport, Iowa; South Bend, Indiana; and Lansing and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; on Saturday. Southeastern portions of Minnesota will once again face severe weather risks after the potential for damaging storms on Friday.
"Along with the risk of hail, flash flooding and frequent lightning strikes will be the potential for hurricane-force wind gusts to near 80 mph on Saturday," said Anderson.
Storms may continue to be problematic in parts of the Northeast, Ohio Valley and central Plains on Sunday.
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The greatest threat for severe weather to close out the weekend may be over the eastern Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Valley.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
