Severe storms to slice through remaining heat in mid-Atlantic
Thunderstorms set to rumble through the mid-Atlantic Thursday will not only trim the heat but could also pack a punch in terms of severe weather, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
The same front responsible for hundreds of severe weather incidents over the North Central states earlier this week produced severe weather Wednesday over the eastern Great Lakes and portions of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.
On Wednesday morning, a brief tornado was even reported in south-central Virginia. Otherwise, most of the severe weather occurred in northern Ohio in the form of damaging winds. Another cluster of high wind reports came in from northeastern Pennsylvania. There was even a report of uprooted trees and a downed utility pole as far east as New Jersey.
The combination of lingering hot and humid air over part of the Northeast and the extra lift in the atmosphere from the front allowed thunderstorm clouds to tower several miles into the atmosphere.
The risk of severe weather will continue farther to the southeast over the region into Thursday evening. Heavy, gusty and locally severe storms capable of producing hail and damaging wind gusts will tend to focus on the mid-Atlantic region from parts of North Carolina to much of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware to southeastern Pennsylvania and central and southern New Jersey.
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., could all experience strong to severe storms into Thursday evening, potentially causing disruptions during the commute around the travel hubs.
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The storms will chop down the heat that has been building over the central Appalachians, Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic regions since the Memorial Day holiday.
A strong push of cool air from the Maritime Provinces of Canada, known as a backdoor front, invaded New England Tuesday and reached the upper part of the mid-Atlantic coast Wednesday. The front is expected to slash temperatures by 15-30 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas from one day to the next.
After a record high temperature of 98 degrees in Newark, New Jersey, Tuesday, the temperature only rose to 71 F on Wednesday due to this backdoor front. The normal high temperature in Newark on the last day of May and first day of June is 77 degrees.
The cooling effect of the backdoor front will be even more dramatic farther to the north. Bridgeport, Connecticut, had a new record high of 94 degrees Tuesday afternoon. The front passed through Tuesday evening, dropping the temperature by 20 degrees in just one hour. On Wednesday, the high temperature reached only 63 degrees, compared to a normal high of 73 degrees.
To close out the week, temperatures will end up being within a few degrees of average.
Part of the Atlantic coast could be in for another round of rough surf, beach erosion and coastal flooding next week, depending upon the track and strength of a budding tropical system near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as of Thursday morning. Some of the beaches were still recovering from nearly a week's worth of erosion from a slow-moving, non-tropical storm earlier this spring.
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