Severe storms to bring additional lightning, hail dangers to southern US this weekend
An active week of severe thunderstorms will continue this weekend, and AccuWeather meteorologists are urging people to be weather aware when heading outdoors.
A new round of severe weather will take aim at the storm-weary southeastern U.S. this weekend.
A new storm will roll across the southern United States Sunday, initiating another round of severe thunderstorms across the region just days after dangerous storms unloaded large hail and damaging winds in areas from Texas to Florida.
AccuWeather meteorologists say that people in the Southern states will need to monitor weather conditions when heading outdoors as there is the potential for more violent storms to unleash large, damaging hail— as well as other threats.
Forecasters say lightning is one of the most common dangers to those spending time outdoors when a thunderstorm is nearby as it can often strike without notice. As a general rule of safety, if thunder can be heard, there is a risk of a lightning strike nearby.
U.S. lightning fatalities between 2012 and 2022. Information complied by John Jensenius. (National Lightning Safety Council)
Two people have been killed by lightning so far in 2023, and both deaths happened earlier this month, according to the National Lightning Safety Council. On April 15, one person died in Pennsylvania when lightning struck a tree, causing a large branch to fall onto a vehicle. The next day, another person was killed in Florida while boating.
On Wednesday, near Fort Worth, Texas, two young boys survived a lightning strike that hit a tree first while they were playing in their backyard. Shortly before noon Thursday, a 33-year-old man was struck by lightning at the City Pier at Panama City Beach, Florida. The man sustained serious injuries.
"If outdoors, people need to be weather aware," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski advised. "A great way is to download the AccuWeather app and make sure they have audible alerts enabled to receive severe weather bulletins." In addition to severe weather watches and warnings, users have access to radars, hour-by-hour forecasts and current conditions to name a few.
Late Friday, severe weather dangers played out as forecast by AccuWeather days earlier, as thunderstorms with damaging winds and pounding hail struck central and southern Texas. Strong rotation was evident with one storm in particular as heavy rain may have shrouded a tornado.
As the southern Plains storm moved along, severe weather resumed farther to the east over the Southern states through Saturday night.
Severe weather reports trickled in Saturday evening along Florida's Atlantic coast, with a reported tornado knocking down trees and causing damage to vehicles in Palm Beach County.
As the storm system begins to move progressively faster, the threat of severe weather on Sunday along the storm's cold front will be limited to the morning and afternoon hours. Forecasters say that storms on Sunday will extend from the central part of the Florida Peninsula to coastal areas of the Carolinas and the Virginia capes. Hail, high winds, flash flooding and a few tornadoes can occur.
Conditions will quickly improve from west to east over the southern Atlantic coast during the afternoon and evening hours as the front sweeps through.
After a lull for two to three days, more severe weather is likely to ramp up over the south-central U.S. later this week.
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