Severe storms Monday afternoon may not materialize as temperatures drop
The chance of severe storms that will bring hail and damaging winds to Delaware is dwindling as Monday's temperatures begin to cool.
A severe storm front that was forecast to produce havoc from central New York south into the Carolinas has divided to the north and south, leaving Delaware pretty much unscathed. Now meteorologists are looking at a second front, west of Delaware, to see what that will bring.
"There's still a risk of a heavy and gusty thunderstorm to come through, with a quick downpour and a brief burst of wind," said Bob Larson, AccuWeather senior meteorologist. "But the greatest risk of truly severe storms are both north and south of you."
Delaware is still expected to see rain across the state, with a chance of them becoming severe.
"If they don't turn severe by 6, 7 o'clock, as the sun is getting ready to down, then it's probably not going to happen," Larson said. "Again, there could be showers but in terms of severe storms and hail and what not, they're going to really have to develop pretty quickly."
Much of the forecast area remains under an Enhanced Risk for severe weather later on Monday. Here is a simulated radar animation showing the possible timing of the storms across the area. Damaging winds, hail, and even an isolated tornado is possible. #PAWX #NJWX #MDWX #DEWX pic.twitter.com/kQF5rRm5UM
— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) May 16, 2022
Showers and strong thunderstorms were expected to start between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. as the state's temperature highs reached into the upper 70s in northern Delaware, while the southern portion of the state saw temperatures in the mid-80s.
These fronts brought volatile weather to the central U.S. on Sunday, with a tornado confirmed in Jacksonville, Florida, according to AccuWeather. Clearview, Oklahoma, reported baseball-size hail and Kirbyville, Missouri recorded a wind gust of 70 mph.
After Monday, AccuWeather is calling for high temperatures climbing to near average or below-average levels with significantly less humidity.
Highs across the state are expected to hover in the low 70s to the low 80s, until the weekend when warmer highs hit the 80s on Friday and 90s on Saturday. Sunday is expected to cool down with highs in the mid-upper 70s.
Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Chances of high winds, maybe hail and tornadoes dwindle in Delaware
