Severe storms and flooding to escalate across Eastern US
From high winds to flash flooding, a wide swath of the U.S. faces multiple severe weather threats through the end of July, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
A frightened motorist found herself and her passenger trapped when severe thunderstorms caused flash flooding around Detroit Metro Airport on July 28. She was leaving the Delta terminal when she captured this video showing the flooded tunnel along Dingell Drive.
As July concludes, additional rounds of severe storms and heavy downpours will deluge parts of the eastern United States, creating dangerous and damaging conditions, AccuWeather meteorologists say.
Following a powerful, long-lasting complex of damaging thunderstorms that swept across Iowa Monday evening, additional heavy thunderstorms developed over the Rockies and the Plains Tuesday and Wednesday.
A strip of drenching downpours has extended eastward Wednesday night into early Thursday morning into areas of central Indiana, northern Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania, western and central upstate New York and part of southern Ontario, which will shift eastward into the day Thursday.
In the Northeast, heavy rain will develop from Thursday to Friday with a zone where 2-4 inches of rain is expected in about 24 hours with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 8 inches. Motorists should be wary that if they run into downpours, water could rise rapidly on some streets and highways. Small streams may quickly spill out of their banks.
The greatest risk of severe thunderstorms on Thursday will exist farther to the south in the Eastern states.
Storms capable of producing damaging wind gusts and localized flash urban flooding will extend from the southern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and all of Delaware southward to much of South Carolina.
Locally severe storms may also occur a bit farther to the south along the Atlantic coast Friday, including in southern Georgia.
The southeastern corner of the U.S. will remain a stormy spot from Friday to early next week as a cool front stalls nearby and moisture from the Gulf and Atlantic continues to ride over the area.
Torrential downpours may bring much-needed rain to a few spots, but a far greater risk will be for flash flooding that could become increasingly severe over time. There is the potential for 4-8 inches of rain to pour down over a few days, with at least half that amount possible in a few hours and an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 12 inches.
Near the stalled front, waters just off the southern Atlantic coast are being monitored by AccuWeather meteorologists for tropical development from this weekend to early next week.
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