Gusty, drenching storms eye East Coast

Following a slew of tornado, damaging wind and large hail reports to start the week, severe weather will continue to be a concern into Wednesday evening. However, the threat will be lower than in recent days.

"Severe weather reports are not expected to be nearly as widespread on Wednesday compared to the past couple of days as the overall storm system is past its peak intensity," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff.

In addition to an expected lower number of reports, the areal extent of any severe weather should primarily be restricted to areas east of the Appalachians. However, some areas of the Gulf Coast that were hit hard Monday and Tuesday will still be in the risk zone.

"There may be an opportunity for heavy, gusty and locally damaging thunderstorms to fire up from near the Delmarva Peninsula to the Carolinas, Florida Panhandle and central Gulf Coast," Duff said.

While some areas may start the day with sunshine, this will help the air to heat up and those locations could have some of the heavier thunderstorms.

"Areas where the sun breaks out for the first half of the day and into the early afternoon hours are likely to stand the greatest chance to be on the receiving end of a thunderstorm later on in the day," Duff explained.

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Even in the absence of severe weather, any thunderstorm can produce heavy rain and cause reduced visibility and local instances of flash flooding.

"Motorists should use caution on area interstates as the weather could turn from dry and sunny to a sudden downpour with reduced visibility in a hurry," Duff said.

Behind the storms, cooler and less humid air will move into the East Thursday.

The exception will be Florida, where showers and thunderstorms will still occur as a cold front will be stalled over the state.

By the end of the week, a cold rain is expected in parts of the Northeast as the cooler air remains in place and the next system moves into the region.

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